Pork in Adobo Sauce

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Mexican adobos usually contain vinegar–an ingredient not found in very many chilis. Nevertheless, could a recipe such as this be the ancestral origin of chili?

Ingredients

  • 4 pasilla chiles, seeds and stems removed

  • 4 dried red New Mexican chiles, seeds and stems removed

  • 2 pounds pork from a roast or chops, cut in 1-inch cubes

  • 2 medium onions, chopped

  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped

  • Water to cover

  • ½ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano, crushed

  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin

  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

In a pot, cover the pasilla and New Mexican chiles with water and simmer for 15 minutes or until soft. Drain.

Cover the pork, half the onions, and half the garlic with water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the meat is tender, about 1 ½ hours. Remove the pork, strain the stock, and reserve both. Discard the onions and garlic.

Place the chiles, remaining onions and garlic, oregano, cumin, and vinegar in a blender and puree until you have a smooth paste. Add some of the stock if necessary.

In a large saucepan, saute the chile paste in the oil, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Thin the mixture with 1 ½ cups of the reserved stock, add the reserved pork, and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. The sauce should be very thick.

Jack Daniel’s Stillhouse BBQ Sauce

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Slather this sauce on during the last five minutes of cooking—just long enough for the sugar to caramelize and brown.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Jack Daniel&rquo;s Tennessee Whiskey

  • 1 cup ketchup

  • 1 cup cider vinegar

  • 1 cup brown sugar

  • 1/2 cup finely chopped onion

  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire® sauce

  • 2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer about 30 minutes, or until slightly thickened.

 

Pan-Fried Porterhouse Steaks with Lynchburg Pan Sauce

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If the weather is lousy outside, then pan-frying a thick porterhouse steak right in the kitchen is a great way to go. The key to success is a big cast-iron skillet. It’ll cause a good bit of smoke in the kitchen, but it&rquo;s worth it. Let the cooked steaks rest on a board while you make the special Lynchburg pan sauce.

Ingredients

  • 2 porterhouse steaks (1 to 1 1/4 pounds each), cut 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick

  • Salt and pepper

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

  • 2 tablespoons butter or margarine

  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

  • 1/4 cup Jack Daniel&rquo;s Tennessee Whiskey

Instructions

Dry the steaks and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat for ten minutes. Coat with oil. Place steaks in pan; cook, until seared and brown on one side, about 5 minutes.

Turn and cook 5 minutes on the other side for medium-rare; 6 minutes for medium. Remove from skillet. Melt butter in skillet; stir in Worcestershire sauce and whiskey. Bring to a boil; cook 1 to 2 minutes. Slice steaks, if desired. Pour sauce over steaks and serve.

 

Belizean Habanero Hot Sauce

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After cooking and pureeing the sauce, stir in the habanero juice. The sauce is very smooth, very hot, and has a strong habanero flavor.

Ingredients

Carrots, Lime Juice, Vinegar, Habanero Juice

Instructions

In this recipe I never cooked the habaneros in order to preserve their distinctive flavor, so it was a perfect choice for our readers’ first experiment with juicing chiles. After cooking and pureeing the sauce, stir in the habanero juice. The final consistency of the sauce was very smooth, very hot, and had a strong habanero flavor.

  • 1 small onion, chopped

  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

  • 1 cup chopped carrots

  • 1/4 cup lime juice, fresh preferred

  • 2 tablespoons distilled vinegar

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1/3 to ½ cup habanero juice

In a saucepan, saute the onion and garlic in the oil until soft. Add the carrots and 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the carrots are soft.

Remove from the heat and transfer the mix to a blender or food processor. Add the lime juice, vinegar and salt, and puree until smooth. Add the habanero juice and mix well.

Store the hot sauce in a glass bottle.

Yield: 1½ cups

Heat Scale: Extremely Hot

Smoked Oysters with Ancho Chile Sauce

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This is a recipe that requires hot smoke and a lot of it for a short period of time. Instead of 200 degree smoke from your smoker or grill, try for about 400 degrees. Oysters can also be grilled by placing the on the grill over high heat until the shells open, about 6 to 10 minutes, then top with the sauce and serve.

Ingredients

For the Oysters:

  • 24 large oysters, shucked, reserving the liquid

For the Lime Marinade:

  • ½ cup reserved oyster liquid

  • ½ cup clam juice

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

  • Juice of 1 lime

For the Ancho Chile Sauce:

  • 1 ancho chile, seeds and stems removed

  • 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce 3 tablespoons tomato sauce

  • 2 tablespoons chopped onions

  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped

  • 2 tablespoons vinegar

  • 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

  • Pinch ground cloves

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

  • 1 tablespoon lime juice

  • Chopped cilantro for garnish

Instructions

Shuck the oysters, saving the liquid. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the marinade. Place the oysters in a shallow dish and pour the marinade over them. Marinate the oysters for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Remove and drain. Keep refrigerated until used.

Soak the ancho chile in hot water for 20 to 30 minutes until soft remove and drain.

Combine the chiles, onions, garlic, and the vinegar in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Add a little water if necessary. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and the spices and continue to puree until smooth. Saute the sauces in the oil until almost dry, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice and cilantro.

Build a hot fire in the smoker or grill and add hickory or other hardwood chips or chunks, as you need a lot of smoke.

Put about ½ to 1 teaspoon of sauce on each oyster. Place the oysters in a grill basket on the grill, close the cover and smoke for 10 minutes

Serve immediately with any additional sauce on the side. Oysters remaining on the grill too long will overcook.