Baychilla
is one Smokin' Farker
The final few cooks of the year and starting off the new year.
The weather outside was cold and wet, perfect for a beef stew.
Chuck was on sale so I started with a chunk o chuck
I broke it down slightly and tossed it into the cold smoke box on the Mak for a bit
After it came out I broke it down further and seared the pieces
Into a reduction of Merlot and some sauteed veg the meat went
After cooking was finished I pulled the meat an onions to blend the other vegetables in the sauce, then strain and reduce the sauce.
I was a bit surprised at how little fat there was
A little garlic bread to go along side the stew
And served over some rice (I need to find a food stylist)
To finish the meal I had mistake. I believe it's called a pickleback - whisky chased with pickle brine. I found Bourbon and Irish whiskey but no Scotch Whisky - so I went with some Angels Evny.
It wasn't my favorite combination as it turns out
So back at the start of November I'd started to ferment a hot sauce that I'd give the "wonderful" name Freslroy Maya to (A combination of ingredient names/places Fres(no) peppers, (Gil)roy garlic and Maya (Yucatan habaneros)):loco:
I took the peppers for a spin in a mini food processor
After mixing in some salt I stuck the mash into a bag, vacuum sealed it and then tossed it into the pantry.
Fast forward to the end of December and I finally get around to turning the mash into a sauce. Step 1 was to put the mash into a blender, add 10% of the weight as vinegar and take it for a spin. I then ran that mess through the finest platter of a food mill
When I was done I had a little bit of liquid (its amazing how little yield you get from ~1lb of peppers/garlic) and the then somewhat drier pepper and garlic remains
I placed the solids on a piece of parchment in a sheet pan and left it for a few hours in a 200 degree oven. I then took those remains and ran them in a food processor for a bit before returning to the oven for another few hours. The end result is I'm not sure if chili powder or finishing dust would be the best descriptor but whatever it is, now I have some of it.
The resulting sauce (for me) isn't too hot and has a nice little kick to it. I'm tempted to try this again omitting the Habaneros and see if it does anything for me. In the meantime this version goes well on eggs.
At the end of the year a local store was running a sale on prime beef, and more of a sale if you bought a whole or half striploin (because breaking down a boneless strip loin is oh so hard and time consuming:mrgreen
I opted for the half strip loin and make some steaks out of it. Everthing was then vac sealed and put into cold storage. A few days before New Years I took the steaks out and let them thaw. The day of New Years eve I pulled the steaks from the bags, salted them and let them rest in the fridge. Later the steaks came out, were smoked at 200 on the Mak till 125 then seared in ripping hot hast iron.
I paired the steak with a decent Cab, some steamed carrots (thanks IP) and some slightly buttery 1:3 ratio) mashed potatoes.
It was a quite nice night.
The weather outside was cold and wet, perfect for a beef stew.
Chuck was on sale so I started with a chunk o chuck
I broke it down slightly and tossed it into the cold smoke box on the Mak for a bit
After it came out I broke it down further and seared the pieces
Into a reduction of Merlot and some sauteed veg the meat went
After cooking was finished I pulled the meat an onions to blend the other vegetables in the sauce, then strain and reduce the sauce.
I was a bit surprised at how little fat there was
A little garlic bread to go along side the stew
And served over some rice (I need to find a food stylist)
To finish the meal I had mistake. I believe it's called a pickleback - whisky chased with pickle brine. I found Bourbon and Irish whiskey but no Scotch Whisky - so I went with some Angels Evny.
So back at the start of November I'd started to ferment a hot sauce that I'd give the "wonderful" name Freslroy Maya to (A combination of ingredient names/places Fres(no) peppers, (Gil)roy garlic and Maya (Yucatan habaneros)):loco:
I took the peppers for a spin in a mini food processor
After mixing in some salt I stuck the mash into a bag, vacuum sealed it and then tossed it into the pantry.
Fast forward to the end of December and I finally get around to turning the mash into a sauce. Step 1 was to put the mash into a blender, add 10% of the weight as vinegar and take it for a spin. I then ran that mess through the finest platter of a food mill
When I was done I had a little bit of liquid (its amazing how little yield you get from ~1lb of peppers/garlic) and the then somewhat drier pepper and garlic remains
I placed the solids on a piece of parchment in a sheet pan and left it for a few hours in a 200 degree oven. I then took those remains and ran them in a food processor for a bit before returning to the oven for another few hours. The end result is I'm not sure if chili powder or finishing dust would be the best descriptor but whatever it is, now I have some of it.
The resulting sauce (for me) isn't too hot and has a nice little kick to it. I'm tempted to try this again omitting the Habaneros and see if it does anything for me. In the meantime this version goes well on eggs.
At the end of the year a local store was running a sale on prime beef, and more of a sale if you bought a whole or half striploin (because breaking down a boneless strip loin is oh so hard and time consuming:mrgreen
I opted for the half strip loin and make some steaks out of it. Everthing was then vac sealed and put into cold storage. A few days before New Years I took the steaks out and let them thaw. The day of New Years eve I pulled the steaks from the bags, salted them and let them rest in the fridge. Later the steaks came out, were smoked at 200 on the Mak till 125 then seared in ripping hot hast iron.
I paired the steak with a decent Cab, some steamed carrots (thanks IP) and some slightly buttery 1:3 ratio) mashed potatoes.
It was a quite nice night.
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