Book Review: "Charred and Scruffed" by Adam Perry Lang

I recently read Adam Perry Lang's "Charred and Scruffed" and really enjoyed the techniques he presented.

His background is quite impressive with classical chef experience as well as much time spent in the traditional BBQ circuit.  However, in this book he blows up typical notions about grilling and I was excited to test some of his techniques.  You can read the book for more and visit his website, but what I did was to test out his "board dressing" concept, which seems intuitive but is rarely something you come across in recipes.  Yes, a good pan sauce is common and makes a ton of difference in the kitchen, but when it comes to grilling, most recipes just suggest to let your meat rest and soak in its own juices before slicing--and that's it.

Lang's concept is to have a bit of sauce to spread on the cutting board before you let the meat rest, and "layering" on more flavor.  Here's a simplified approach I took:

First, I grilled some skirt steak with minimal seasoning (salt & pepper).  For the board dressing, I mixed some teriyaki sauce with garlic salt and chili powder, and spread it across my cutting board:

I then placed the skirt steak on the board to rest for about 10 minutes as you would normally do with steak:

Finally, I sliced the skirt steak across the grain (essential basic for skirt steak, brisket, etc.--look this up if you aren't familiar) and tossed the slices a bit around the "dressing":

This seems like a simplistic technique and an obvious thing to do, but I never read recipes that suggest anything like this (not that I go by recipes that much anymore).  What Lang does with his book is present a series of steps like this that he uses in a multi-step process that opens up a whole new set of flavors--even seasoned grillers should learn something from it.  He finishes the book with slew of great little side dish recipes that complete the meals.

I recommend this book highly and look forward to more food experimentation using the techniques!

Cholula Hot Sauce!

This is my ode to Cholula hot sauce, my favorite and most versatile bottled hot sauce.  I also use Sriracha and other sauces, but this one has just the right amount of spice without killing a dish.  It's definitely got some zip, but won't rot out your stomach.  The photo above, being of decent quality, is obviously not from my iPhone camera and snaked from the internet.  

While Googling the image, I also saw the majestic photos of the Cholula (namesake) church in Mexico with Mt. Popocapetl in the background, and I felt compelled to post a scenic photo.  Cholula, at 2500 years old, is the oldest continually habitated town in Mexico.  Looks like I have yet another food and hiking destination on my long list!

Greek Chicken, Grilled Veggies, and Couscous

The other weekend I came up with nice summer meal idea--Greek chicken and sides!  I started by cutting up a whole chicken (you could also buy it already cut up, but I like to take it apart myself so my cuts cook evenly on the grill).  I marinated the chicken pieces for a few hours in this sauce with rough amounts listed:

2 cups Greek yogurt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup dijon
juice of 1 whole lemon
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsp salt

I then grilled the chicken indirectly on a charcoal grill for about an hour.  I also chopped long pieces of zucchini and red pepper, coated them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and grilled them quickly directly over the coals.  They were chopped and served mixed up with out-of-the-box couscous (Near East works just fine--I don't do it all from scratch!).  Adding to the summer feel of the dish are slices of Roma tomatoes with salt and pepper.

This might actually be more Middle Eastern than Greek, but the flavors all match well and it was delicious with crisp white wine--I used Sauvignon Blanc, but a Pinot Grigio would work just fine.

Tale of Two Pastas!

My kids like my cooking, but as a result have gotten kind of choosy about their separate preferences.  What I often do is cook up a pot of pasta and then have two sauce options available to toss with the noodles--sort of a made-to-order arrangement!

In this first photo, I whipped up a quick shrimp pasta sauce using butter, garlic, and white wine.  I sprinkled on parmesan when I served it to my son, who loves shrimp right now:

 






 




For the second pasta dish I fried up some cut-up pieces of sun-dried tomato & basil chicken sausage in olive olive, then tossed in a good half-jar of store bought basil marinara, and tossed in some linguini fini to serve along with the usual parmesan on top, which my daughter loves.  I had the same thing except I added red pepper flakes for heat! 

It was a quick weekday meal that satisfied each of us!

Early Spring Grilling!! Make it happen.

Before (potatoes missing):





After:






This is a simple summertime-style meal that satisfies that craving for grilled foods.

Step 1, Roasted Potatoes: set the oven to 425, cut up a few Yukon into a coarse dice and coat in a bowl with olive oil, sea salt, and a couple of cloves of crushed garlic. Roast for 30 minutes while preparing the rest of the meal.

Step 2, Steak: light the grill, charcoal preferably!! coat T-Bone lightly with sea salt and coarse ground pepper.

Step 3, Veggies: brush sliced veggies such as onion, green pepper, and yellow squash lightly with a vinegarette (I happened to have a leftover dijon vinegarette handy!). grill alongside steak to desired doneness.

Step 4, Wine Sauce: chop sweet onion or shallot into a small dice, enough for a handful. saute with butter for 5 minutes, then add 1 cup red wine and 1/2 cup beef boullion. crush a tiny amount of dried rosemary for extra depth. add a few diced crimini or button mushrooms. reduce over 15-20 minutes.

Step 5, Plating: serve steak with grilled veggies and roasted potatoes with sauce over the top.

Served best with a glass of cabernet and warm thoughts of summer and friends!!

Quick Honey Mustard Sauce

This works really well on grilled pork tenderloin and makes a very quick sauce for chicken as well:

1/3 cup Dijon mustard
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup honey

optional: 1 TBSP chopped fresh rosemary

Obviously, it's equal parts of the three so you can do this recipe with whatever amounts you need.

This definitely benefits from a tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary, so if this is for adults the rosemary is a must, but my son prefers it without, so I sometimes just whisk up the basic sauce for him without the herb.

Demi-Glace & Borderlaise Sauce

Last weekend I had the chance to learn about making demi-glace, which forms the basis of many classic French sauces. Saveur magazine published an article by James Peterson about demi-glace (I've written of Peterson's books before).

Demi-glace is essentially a veal stock reduced to the point where it's a rich, concentrated syrup. Lacking time, I short-cutted the recipe and substituted 2 lbs. of beef knucklebones for the veal bones. I did my version in under two hours but it still tasted great when I included it in this awesome version of Bordelaise sauce found in the same Saveur article as the one noted above.

In another sauce I tried from that magazine (Charcutiere), demi-glace was called for but I had to substitute reduced beef broth and it worked out pretty well.

Demi-glace and your average stock are great to save and have around to add depth to gravies, sauces, and even something like chili!

THE Classic Sauce Book

Check out Sauces, by James Peterson. This is the authoritative guide to classical saucemaking used as a reference by home cooks and restaurant chefs alike.

Mr. Peterson wrote up an article in Saveur magazine that provides a sample of his writing. Click here to read up on that issue's Charcutiere sauce; I tested it recently and found it delicious, but I had to substitute a 1/4 cup of beef bouillon for the demiglace, which is another classic base sauce that I'm eager to try.

Lemony BBQ Sauce

1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1/4 cup Worcestershire
6 oz. (half can) frozen concentrated lemonade
pinch Cayenne pepper
2 TBSP onion flakes

Stir all ingredients together and cook over low hear, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes. Look cool and serve on chicken, pork, catfish, and ribs!

Simple Turkey Brine

Gallon of water
2 cups apple cider
2 cups sugar
2 cups salt

brine 24 hours before grilling!