Mexican Rice

Awhile back, I decided to make some steak tacos.   I wanted to have something else with them, so I decided to make some Mexican Rice.   In the past I've used a recipe from Cook's Country to good effect, but I decided to try my hand at making my own.    I was very pleased with the result, and will be using this as my default recipe from now on.

This rice is pretty fast and easy to make.   Saute the rice with onions and jalapenos, add some garlic, tomato paste and other aromatics and seasonings, then add some chicken broth and lime juice, bring it to a boil, cover and simmer for a few minutes, and you've got a wonderfully flavorful Mexican-style side dish.   This is as good as any version of Mexican Rice I've ever had, and better than all but a few.  If you try it out, I believe you'll come to the same conclusion, but as usual, I encourage you to try it out for yourself.   If you do, please let us know what you think.

Mexican Rice

2              tablespoons olive oil
2              cups long grain white rice
1              medium yellow onion, diced
2              large jalapeno peppers, minced
4              teaspoons minced garlic
2              teaspoons cumin
1/2           teaspoon table salt
1/4           cup tomato paste
1/4           cup freshly chopped cilantro leaves
4              cups low-sodium chicken broth
1              lime, halved

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.  When the oil is shimmering, add the rice, onion and jalapeno.   Cook, stirring often, until the onion is tender and the rice has browned (5-7 minutes).  Add garlic, cumin and salt and cook until the garlic is fragrant (about 30 seconds), then stir in the tomato paste and cilantro and cook another minute.

Add the chicken broth and squeeze in the juice from both halves of the lime.  Heat to boiling, then cover.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-17 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and keep the pot covered for about 5 minutes.  Fluff with a fork, then serve hot.

Raccoon River Brewing Company

The weather in Iowa has been brutally hot for more than a week.  Our downstairs air conditioner, which cools the living room, dining room, and kitchen, stopped working.  So, instead of cooking in Hell's own kitchen, we opted to eat out.

We decided to go to Raccoon River Brewing Company in downtown Des Moines, since it's more or less on the way home from work.  Jeffrey was in the mood for a burger, and for once we were in such complete agreement that we both ordered the same entree, the BBQ Bacon Ranch Burger with applewood smoked bacon and Cheddar cheese. 

As it was such a hot day, I also had a Tallgrass light beer. I sampled the Vanilla Cream Ale, which tastes a lot like cream soda and beer combined, but found it too sweet for my taste.  I was very pleased with the Tallgrass.

The burgers came cooked perfectly and just as we'd ordered- a beautiful pink-centered medium rare.  The hand-cut fries were ok, but I'll probably be more adventurous with my side selection next time.  We were so caught up with how good the burgers looked and smelled, that I almost forgot to take a picture!

Yep, I'd already started to chow down!

We were very pleased with the food, and since we ate at an unfashionably early dinner time, the restaurant was fairly quiet.  I don't think I'd find the restaurant very relaxing later in the evening, however.  But then, we're not really in the place's target demographic age group, so that's to be expected.  All in all, Raccoon River Brewing Company is a really great place to grab a burger and brew.

Grape Sherbet

I came across the initial version of this recipe on Allrecipes.com.

The recipe was good, but very sweet.  I reduced the sugar and have been tinkering with the other ingredients almost every time I've made a batch.  It's not what I'd consider a finished project, but is still a wonderfully refreshing and different frozen dessert.  The problem I'm trying to overcome is the slow freeze time/ fast melt time.  Maybe there's too much grape juice?  I also think the color is much too subtle, and probably the next batch I make (should be soon) will have a drop or two of coloring to give a more purple tone.

If you have any suggestions on making the sherbet less melty, please send me a comment!

Here's what you need!



Grape Sherbet

This recipe makes 4 quarts.

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups sugar

4 cups grape juice

6 tablespoons lemon juice

5 cups skim milk

1.  In a 4-quart ice cream freezer canister, mix together the sweetened condensed milk, cream, sugar, grape juice and lemon juice.  Add skim milk and stir well.

2.  Follow the instructions for freezing for your machine.  If you have the type of ice cream maker that stops when the ice cream is thick enough, be aware that no matter how much ice and salt you add outside the cream canister, it will never stop!  I let the machine process for 30-45 minutes.

Note:  Don't be surprised if the sherbet hasn't set up much when you take it out of the freezer container.  It will harden or "cure" in the freezer.  After it's completely frozen, the texture is great, and the grape juice makes it a very refreshing treat.

Chewy Raspberry Bars

Our raspberry bushes haven't been giving us quite as many berries the past few days as they had been, but we're still getting plenty.  I had a lot I had to use up over the weekend, so I decided to do some baking.  I looked at some recipes for ideas but didn't find any that really struck my taste, so I ended up coming up with my own recipe for Chewy Raspberry Bars. 

These bars turned out great.  Juli says they might be the best fruit bars she's ever had.   They were quite popular at my work as well.  They are pretty fast easy to make, and don't take much time, unless you count time they just cook in the oven.  If you try them out, I think you'll find that the great flavor you get for so little time and effort makes these bars a real winner.

Chewy Raspberry Bars

yield = 18 or 36 bars

3 1/2          cups fresh or frozen raspberries
2                cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 1/2          cups granulated (white) sugar
2                tablespoons cornstarch
1                teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2             teaspoon cinnamon
1                cup (packed) light brown sugar
1                cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 1/2          cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2             cup sweetened flake coconut
1                teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.   Spray a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick baking spray.

Combine raspberries, granulated sugar, 1/2 cup oatmeal, cornstarch, vanilla extract and cinnamon in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Stirring occasionally, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside to cool until it is only slightly warm.

In a stand mixer or mixing bowl with hand mixer, cream together the brown sugar and butter. 

Combine remaining 1 1/2 cups oatmeal, flour, coconut and cinnamon in a medium bowl and stir to mix thoroughly.  Add the dry ingredients to the brown sugar/butter combination and mix to make crumbs. 

Press 2/3 of the crumb mixture in the bottom of the baking pan.  Spread the raspberry mixture across the bottom layer, then sprinkle evenly with the remaining crumb mixture.

Bake until the topping is golden brown and the raspberry mixture is bubbling near the center of the pan, about 40 minutes.   

Place the pan on a wire rack and allow to cool completely (one hour, at least).  Slice and serve the bars by themselves, or warm slightly and serve with ice cream.

Caramel Pork with Hot Peppers and Snow Peas

We wanted a quick and tasty lunch on Saturday, something memorable and different, and something that wouldn't be too much hassle to make.   Flipping through some Thai cookbooks, I saw a couple recipes for Caramel Pork.   Thin slices of stir-fried pork coated in a sticky-sweet sauce, served atop jasmine rice and topped with crisp-fried shallots... the basic concept sounded pretty good to me.   However, I wanted something a bit spicier, and I also wanted to have at least some vegetables.   With that in mind, I set about making my own recipe.

We picked up some snow peas at the Saturday AM farmer's market, and we have lots of hot chili peppers of our own.   With those additions, I adjusted a few ingredients to taste and tried out my version of Caramel Pork.

This recipe is definitely a winner.   The pork pieces were nicely browned and coated with the sauce, while the snow peas were lightly crisped due to having cooked first with the pork, then in the sauce.  This gave them an unusual, yet very pleasant, texture and flavor.  Tiny bits of red chilis gave the sweet, sticky sauce a bit of heat, while the crisp-fried shallots added more sweetness and just a touch of bitterness.  I served up the pork with jasmine rice and with fresh tomato wedges, which provided both a bit of tartness and something cool to balance the heat of the pork and sauce.   All in all, this made for a really nice lunch.

This pork dish is unlike anything I've ever had or made before.  We both loved it, and I'll definitely be making it again. 

Caramel Pork with Hot Peppers and Snow Peas

yield = 4 servings

3               tablespoons vegetable oil
3               large shallots, thinly sliced
5               tablespoons (unpacked) brown sugar
2               tablespoons oyster sauce
2               tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1               tablespoon fish sauce
1/2            teaspoon white pepper
6               teaspoons minced garlic
1 1/2         lbs pork, thinly sliced
2-3           fresh red chili peppers, diced
4              ounces snow peas, trimmed

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat and fry the shallots until they are golden brown.   Remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.  Set aside

Increase heat to medium-high.  Stir together brown sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce and white pepper in a small bowl.  Set aside. 

Add garlic, cook 30 seconds, the add pork and chili peppers.  Stir-fry until the pork has started to brown on all sides.  Add the snow peas and stir-fry 1 minute.

Add the brown sugar mixture and continue cooking for until about 5 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened to a thick, sticky texture and coated the pork.

Transfer pork mixture to a serving platter and sprinkle with the fried shallots.  Serve over jasmine rice.

Hot Pepper Shrimp with Vegetables + Spicy Sesame Noodles

I've been flipping through a lot of Southeast Asian cookbooks of late.  Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Laotian and so forth... lots of interesting recipes representing a bunch of regional cooking traditions that share some influences and lots of ingredients, but which produce very different dishes.   Consideration of how those different cuisines overlap and what makes them distinct is what led to today's recipe.

The spicy shrimp and vegetable dish I came up with probably has more in common with Indonesian cooking than with any other specific cuisine - in fact, it closely resembles two different recipes I've seen for an Indonesian dish called Cap Cai - but I incorporated a bunch of my favorite Asian ingredients (including sriracha sauce, hot peppers, white pepper, lime juice and - of course - ginger) to give it some distinct touches.   Better yet, the hot peppers and the broccoli came from our own garden. 

I'm quite pleased with how this dish came out.  It doesn't taste much like anything else I've ever cooked, and  I wasn't sure how well I liked it first, but after a couple bites, the complex mix of flavors really starts to sink in.  The sauce is really the key.  Savory, sweet and subtly hot at the same time, the sauce unifies the shrimp and the various vegetables as a coherent dish, while at the same time it brings forth the distinct flavors of each of those ingredients.  The subtle flavors of the shrimp and cauliflower really stood out, as did the sweetness of the yams, but none of the flavors overwhelmed the others. 

I decided to serve up this new dish with a spicier variant of my Sesame Soba Noodles.  I didn't have soba noodles on hand, but linguine worked just fine, and the extra spiciness provided some continuity with the main dish at the same time the nutty sesame flavor gave the noodles their own distinct flavor.   The Hot Pepper Shrimp with Vegetables would work fine with plain rice or with any of a number of seasoned or plain noodles, and the Spicy Sesame Noodles would likewise go well with a variety of dishes, but they so well together that I decided to present them together in this post.

Hot Pepper Shrimp with Vegetables

yield = 4-5 servings

1 1/4          pounds medium to large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2                fresh hot red peppers, minced
4                teaspoons minced garlic
2                teaspoons freshly-squeezed lime juice
1/2             teaspoon white pepper
1                large head broccoli, cut into florets
1                medium head of cauliflower, cut into florets
2/3             cup low-sodium chicken broth
2                tablespoons cornstarch
2                tablespoons fish sauce
2                tablespoons oyster sauce
2                teaspoons fresh, peeled and grated ginger
2                teaspoons sriracha sauce
1                teaspoon granulated (white) sugar
1/2             teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
3                tablespoons vegetable oil
1                small yellow onion, thinly-sliced
1                small yam, peeled and diced
6                green onions, white parts only, thinly-sliced
4                ounces of baby spinach

Add shrimp, minced peppers, garlic, white pepper and lime juice to a medium bowl.   Stir to mix thoroughly, then cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate and allow to marinate 1/2 hour.

Steam the broccoli and cauliflower until almost done (still a bit crisp).   Spray w/ cold water and set aside.  While the vegetables are steaming, add the chicken broth, cornstarch, fish sauce, oyster sauce, grated ginger, sriracha sauce, sugar and black pepper.  Stir to mix thoroughly, then set aside.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the onions, yam and green onions and cook, stirring often, until the yams have started to soften and the onions are starting to brown (about 5 minutes).  Push the vegetables to the sides of the pan and pour the shrimp and marinade into the center of the pan in a single layer of shrimp.  Cook for about 2 minutes, then turn the shrimp and cook another minute. 

Add the chicken broth mixture, stir to combine and cook until the sauce starts to thicken.  Add the steamed vegetables and the spinach to the skillet, stir to mix thoroughly, then transfer to a serving bowl or platter and serve immediately.

Spicy Sesame Noodles

yield = 4 servings

3                tablespoons soy sauce
2                tablespoons Asian (dark) sesame oil
2                tablespoons rice vinegar
1                tablespoon honey
1                tablespoon sriracha sauce
2                teaspoons fresh peeled and grated ginger
1/2             teaspoon white pepper
1                pound linguine
1                tablespoon table salt
2                tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1                tablespoons thinly-sliced green onions (green parts only)

Start 3 quarts water boiling in a Dutch oven or similar pan.  Mix soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, honey, sriracha sauce, ginger and white pepper in a small bowl.  Set aside.

Add the pasta and 1 tablespoon salt to the boiling water and cook per package directions.  Drain, then immediately transfer pasta to a serving bowl.  Add the soy sauce mixture and one tablespoon of the toasted sesame seeds.   Toss to mix thoroughly, then sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon sesame seeds and the green onions.  Serve hot.

Big John's BBQ - Update

It was really, really hot today, and after cooking lunch and doing some baking in the afternoon, I couldn't face more time in a hot kitchen, so we took our second trip to Big John's BBQ.  We are glad to report it was just as excellent as the first time we ate there.

The menu changes every day at Big John's, but you can see the day's menu on the Facebook page linked above.  We were both disappointed the incredibly good Dirty Rice wasn't on the menu tonight, but we were pleased with the ribs and smoked chicken we ordered.  Once again the servings were more than generous, and the food was great.   Plus this time we got dessert.

The dessert choices tonight were Sweet Potato Pie and Big John's Special Sweet Potato Pie.  The latter was sweet potato pie done more as a bar than a typical pie, with delicious, custardy sweet potato filling atop a rich, buttery graham cracker crust.   They'd run out of pie crust and still had some filling, so Big John tossed together this version without a recipe.   He assured us he could replicate it, though, and I sure hope that's true, because it was fabulous!  I just wish we'd remembered to bring our camera. 

John and the rest of the staff were friendly as before, the service was excellent, the food was beyond excellent, and we didn't  have to heat up the house for dinner.   That's a win all the way around as far as we're concerned. 

And better yet, we're glad to report that starting Thursday, July 21, Big John's BBQ will be open 4 days a week, Thurs-Sat 11-9 and Sundays 11-6.  That's excellent news for us, for our home town and for anyone who likes great BBQ, and my hope is that any of our readers from the area will drop by and support this excellent establishment.