cajun lamb roast

Cajun Lamb Roast

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Ingredients

1 (1- to 2-pound) boneless lamb roast, sirloin or top round

Olive oil

2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chile powder
1/2 teaspoon hot smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup mint leaves, minced

Instructions

Stir together salt, cayenne, black pepper, chile powder, paprika and garlic powder in a small bowl. Coat the lamb with olive oil and liberally rub the spice mixture onto the lamb. Let stand at least 30 minutes or up to three hours.

Coat the bottom of a Dutch oven with oil and heat over medium-high heat. Brown the lamb on all sides. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and roast the lamb for 35 to 40 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 145 degrees F. for medium-rare, 160 degrees F. for medium or 170 degrees F. for well-done. When lamb has reached the desired temperature, remove it from the oven and let it rest 10 minutes. Slice the lamb on the diagonal before serving.

Vibrant-Vegetable-Stock

Vibrant Vegetable Stock

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This stock is good enough to serve as a first course consommé, in addition to using it as a basis for some of the recipes that follow. Baking or caramelizing the vegetables before adding the water gives an additional richness to the stock. If you wish, adding a 1 to 2 inch piece of kombu seaweed will also add a further depth of flavor. This stock will keep for 2 days, covered, in the refrigerator. It can also be frozen; divide it into 2- or 3-cup freezer containers. Feel free to add any vegetable trimmings from the bag in your freezer, but beware of cabbage or broccoli, whose flavors tend to dominate the stock.

Read Dave DeWitt’s article on Veggie Soups for Spring here.

Ingredients

4 onions, not peeled, cut into eighths
3 large ribs celery, cut into fourths
2 leeks, white part only
1 head garlic
4 carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
2 tablespoons high quality olive oil
3 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup chopped New Mexican green chiles, or more to taste
1/3 cup chopped parsley, including the stems
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil or 2 tablespoons of dried basil
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 cup chopped button mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped celery leaves
1 zucchini, peeled and sliced
3 cups coarsely chopped tomatoes
3 quarts cold water
5 whole black peppercorns

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the onions, celery, leeks, garlic, and carrots in a shallow pan and pour the wine over the top. Bake uncovered for 1 1/2 hours.

Heat the oil in a pot and add the caramelized vegetables and the green onions and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining ingredients (except the water and peppercorns) and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the cold water and the peppercorns and bring the mixture to a boil. Then lower the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 2 hours. Remove the cover and simmer for another 30 minutes. Strain the stock through a fine strainer lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter and salt to taste.

Rancho Aurora Garlic Soup

Rancho Aurora Garlic Soup

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This recipe is from Susana Trilling, who owns the Seasons of My Heart Cooking School in Oaxaca, Mexico. It uses an herb called hoja santa that has a large, fragrant leaf. Look for it in Latin markets but if unavailable, watercress is the best substitute. Serve this soup with a dark beer like Negra Modelo and cornbread. Read Dave DeWitt’s entire spicy spring soup article here.

Ingredients

2 heads garlic, cloves peeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large hoja santa leaf, cut into strips or 1 bunch chopped fresh watercress
6 cups Vibrant Vegetable Stock (see recipe here) or substitute your favorite stock
2 de árbol chiles, left whole, or substitute 2 large piquíns or santaka chiles
Salt and white pepper to taste
3 bay leaves
1 bunch celery leaves, coarsely chopped
20 toasted bread cubes or croutons
20 cubes Oaxaqueño or other melting cheese such as queso blanco or Monterey Jack
Garnish: grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Sauté the garlic in the olive oil in a soup pot until slightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the hoja santa or watercress and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the stock, chile (if using), salt, pepper, and bay leaves and simmer for a half an hour. Remove the bay leaves and chile. Add the celery leaves just before serving.

Place 5 cubes of bread and five of cheese in 4 individual soup bowls and ladle in the soup. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.

tea smoked ribs

Tea-Smoked Country Style Pork Ribs

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This is a style of smoking that hails from China’s Sichuan (formerly Szechuan) region, which is known for its hot, spicy cuisine. Serious Chinese food geeks may be familiar with Zhangcha duck—a tea-smoked Sichuan delicacy that’s tough to make but impressive as hell to anyone who’s never had it before. This is the recipe Mark Masker used for his rib experiment.  Read the entire article on the Burn! Blog here.

Ingredients

Rib Sauce
1/2 cup light soy sauce
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dry crushed chile pods
3 pounds country-style pork ribs

Smoking Packet Mix:
1/2 cup black tea leaves (roughly 17 teabags for you infidels)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup raw, long grain rice
2 cinnamon sticks, broken into small pieces
4-6 slices of fresh orange rind, 1 inch wide and 2-3 inches long

Instructions

Mix up the rib sauce, coat the ribs, and let them soak inside the fridge for three to five hours.  Meanwhile, mix up the smoking mix and prep your smoker. Once the coals are ready, you hot-smoke the ribs until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. (this will take roughly two or three hours).  I made four packets of smoking mix and changed them every half hour while brushing more sauce onto the ribs.

Zhangcha Duck

Zhangcha Duck

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This is a style of smoking that hails from China’s Sichuan (formerly Szechuan) region, which is known for its hot, spicy cuisine. Serious Chinese food geeks may be familiar with Zhangcha duck—a tea-smoked Sichuan delicacy that’s tough to make but impressive as hell to anyone who’s never had it before. This is the recipe Mark Masker used for his experiment.  Read the entire article on the Burn! Blog here.

Ingredients

One 2 to 2 1/2-pound duck
1 1/2 tablespoons Sichuan pepper*
1 tablespoon ginger
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons rice wine
1/2 cup black tea leaves (preferably Oolong)

Instructions

First you want to clean the duck and open a slit about 3 ½ inches long at the back of it so you can remove the guts. Then, mix everything but the duck and the tea. Marinate the duck in that concoction in the fridge for several hours. Place the duck into boiling water to tighten the hide. This ensures that your duck will have a crispy skin after you’re done cooking it. While that’s going on, you should start preheating enough vegetable oil or peanut oil in a separate pan to deep-fry the duck later on. Drain the water from the duck, and move it over to your heated wok. The tea sits in the bottom of the wok while you smoke the duck in it for 10-15 minutes. After that, steam the duck for 10 more minutes. Think you’re done? Not quite. Let the duck cool off, then deep-fry it in the oil until the skin is crisp. It goes great with rice, veggies, and Chinese dumplings.