Eye of Round Roast

1 1/2 pound eye of round roast
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 head of garlic
1/4 cup capers
6 Thai bird chilis
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 slices of bacon, cut in half
1/2 cup beef broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup armagnac or cognac

I went to one of our favorite Asian markets yesterday, Carrollton Plaza Supermarket, intending to purchase a beef tenderloin.  Normally they have entire beef tenderloins at ridiculously low prices. They didn't have any beef loin; however, they had some eye of round roasts.  I didn't really know anything about preparing eye of round.  It looks pretty, but unfortunately that's probably because it's very lean and has no marbling.  I just bought a small portion, about a pound and a half, so that we could experiment without too much investment.

After doing a fair amount of Google research I found recommendations that ran the gamut from fast high temp cooking with no liquid to slow low temp braising.  Here's the technique I decided on.  I butterflied the loin, then used a multi-blade meat tenderizer (http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-7032-Professional-Meat-Tenderizer/dp/B00004UE7Y/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1310694673&sr=8-4) to perforate the meat all over.  I sprinkled the meat on both sides with the salt and let it rest at room temp for at least an hour.

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.

While the meat was resting with the salt, I coated a cast iron skillet with the olive oil and cooked the bacon slices over low heat to render their fat.

Also while the meat was resting I peeled and diced the garlic, roughly chopped the capers, removed the stems from the peppers, cut them in half, removed the seeds, and very thinly sliced them, ground the black pepper and mixed all that together.

Now rinse the salt off the roast and pat dry.  Put the prepared mixture down the middle.  Either roll up or fold each side in, whichever works better with the cut, shape, and thickness of your eye of round roast.  Then use butcher's twine to truss up your pretty little roast package nice and neat.  Remove the bacon slices from the skillet and reserve them.

Increase the heat to medium high.  Brown the roast all over.  Add the beef broth, soy sauce, and armagnac to the skillet, bring to a low boil, and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Lay the bacon slices over the roast, put the skillet in the oven, and cook at 250 degrees for one hour.  Turn the oven off and leave the roast for one hour without opening the oven.  Remove roast from oven, cut away the trussing, slice, and serve.

Homemade Refried Beans, Ridiculously Easy Method

1 lb. dry pinto beans
1/2 lb. bacon or bacon scraps
cloves of one head of garlic, peeled
1/4 cup reserved bacon grease

Rinse and sort beans.  Soak for about 12 hours.  Put soaked beans, bacon, and garlic in a slow cooker, cover with water by 1 inch, and cook on high power overnight.

Remove the bacon or bacon scraps.  Use a spider or sieve to remove cooked beans from cooking liquid and place into a food processor.  Process until smooth, adding some of the leftover bean cooking liquid as necessary.

Heat the bacon grease in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Spoon the beans from the food processor into the skillet and cook and stir until the beans are very hot and all the bacon grease is incorporated into the beans. 

Season with salt and pepper if needed.

Grownup Chicken Nuggets

1.5 to 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
water and ice
1 bunch green onions, sliced and then chopped very fine
2 to 3 inch piece of ginger, grated
1 head of garlic, peeled and pressed through a garlic press
1 bunch culantro (preferred) or cilantro, finely chopped
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/2 cup (approximate) panko crumbs
3 cups peanut oil

First brine the chicken breast.  In a small amount of water over medium heat, dissolve the kosher salt and sugar.  Let the salt/sugar brine cool.  Meanwhile, rinse the chicken breast and place it in a ziplock bag inside of a large measuring cup or bowl.  When the brine has cooled a bit, add several handfuls of ice cubes to it.  Pour the brine and remaining ice cubes into the ziplock bag with the chicken.  Seal the bag and refrigerate for a few hours.

After 3 to 6 hours remove the chicken from the fridge, drain off the brine, and rinse the chicken.  Trim away any fat and other undesirable stuff from the chicken.  Cut the chicken into large squares and place in the freezer to firm for 1-2 hours. 

Meanwhile, prepare the green onion, garlic, ginger, and culantro or cilantro. 

Remove the now firm chicken from the freezer and drop into a food processor.  Pulse a couple of times to roughly grind the chicken.

Scrape the ground chicken from the food processor into a large mixing bowl and add the green onion, garlic, ginger, culantro or cilantro, and sesame oil.  Mix well with your hands.

Put the panko crumbs on a tray or large plate.  Use a tablespoon disher (recommended) or tablespoon to measure the chicken mixture into balls.  Working with about 5 chicken balls at a time, place them on the panko crumbs, roll around to coat well, and place the finished balls on a platter.  Continue until all the chicken mixture has been prepared into panko-coated balls.

Heat the peanut oil in a Dutch oven to approximately 300 degrees, measuring the temperature with a fat/candy thermometer.  (Try to keep the oil temperature above 280 degrees and below 350 degrees.)  Drop the chicken balls 10-15 at a time into the hot oil and fry approximately 4 minutes or until golden-brown.

Remove with a spider to a cooling rack. Continue until all chicken balls are fried.  Serve with Homemade Teriyaki Sauce for dipping.

Chile Paste

This chile paste is really versatile and will add that special something to your grilled or smoked meats.  It can be rubbed on beef or pork as a marinade before smoking or braising, and it's also a great addition to the masa for tamales to impart color and flavor.

Ingredients:

2 dry guajillo peppers
3 dry pasilla peppers
1 dry ancho pepper

1/2 tablespoon annatto seeds
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/8 teaspoon allspice berries
1/2 teaspoon coriander
3 cloves
1/8 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon salt

3 cloves garlic
1 small white or yellow onion, roughly chopped
2 ounces (1/3 of a small can) tomato paste
1/4 cup juice of naranjas agrias (sour oranges) or a combination of orange and lime juice*

In a large skillet over medium heat toast the dry guajillo, pasilla, and ancho peppers, turning frequently, until they smell fragrant and start to puff.  Add enough water to the skillet to cover the peppers, and bring the water to a simmer.  Cover with a lid and turn off the heat.  Allow to cool until the peppers can be handled.

When you can comfortably handle the peppers, remove the stems and seeds.

While you're waiting for the chile peppers to cool, in a spice grinder or coffee grinder devoted to grinding spices, grind the annatto seeds, cumin seeds, allspice berries, coriander, cloves, cinnamon, oregano, and salt to a powder.

In a blender or food processor, grind the garlic, then add the onion, tomato paste, and sour orange juice and process to a paste consistency.  Add the ground spice mixture, and the guajillo, pasilla, and ancho peppers, and continue processing into a paste.

Refrigerate after preparing.

* The only place I've found around here that always has naranjas agrias is my favorite Carnival market at 3460 Webb Chapel Extension in Dallas.  You should be aware that naranjas agrias aren't pretty.  They kinda look like warty oranges.

Shishito Peppers

I've read about the greatness of shishito peppers and finally found them recently at Central Market.  The recipe is simple:  Rinse and dry the peppers.  Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, then add a little olive oil.  Add the peppers and saute until they're blistery all over.  Pour into a serving dish and sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt.  So simple ... so good!

p.s.  These pretty peppers commanded a pretty penny at Central Market, and while they're well worth the price, I'm a big fan of finding good food at a bargain price.  Well, I've found the same peppers a couple of times now at H Mart here in Carrollton.  They were labeled only as "sweet pepper" and were very inexpensive.  It always pays to examine the offerings at the ethnic markets.

Fresh Shishito Peppers

Mussels, Shrimp, and Chorizo in Garlic, White Wine, and Butter Sauce

Recipe for Mussels, Shrimp, and Chorizo in Garlic, White Wine, and Butter Sauce

I think if you love to cook and have been doing it for a while, you develop an instinct for how food should be prepared, even if it's a food you don't really like. Case in point, I'm not a fan of custardy deserts; however, I can bake what I've been told is a right tasty pumpkin pie. Mussels is another one of those foods that I don't care for.  I've tried to like them, I really have, like three or four times in different preparations, but I'm simply not fond of the texture of mussels. However, I absolutely love the flavor of the broth you get when you prepare them, and my beloved hubby does indeed like mussels. So this recipe is for both of us. It has mussels, a very rich-flavored broth, and shrimp for the non-mussel-lover.

As with most of my recipes the proportions are merely guidelines.  Adjust the amounts to your taste.

Ingredients:

Olive oil to coat the skillet
Spanish chorizo, 6 to 10 ounces (we like Goya brand), halved or quartered lengthwise, and sliced
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 small red onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 bulb fennel, white part, diced (you could also use some of the green fronds for garnish)
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 large or 2 small tomatoes, diced
Bulbs of 1 head of garlic, minced
1/2 of a .750 ml. bottle white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
20 mussels, cleaned (discard any that are open and don't close when you tap on them)
10 shrimp, peeled except for tail, and deveined

Heat skillet on medium-low.  Add enough olive oil to coat the skillet.  Add the chorizo and cook gently, stirring frequently, to let the chorizo release some of its fat and red color.

Increase the heat to medium, add the butter, and stir until melted.

Add the onion and bell pepper and stir until translucent.

.

Add the fennel and smoked paprika and cook for a few minutes.

Add the tomato.

Add the garlic and cook, continuing to stir frequently, for several minutes.
 

 Add the wine.

Bring to a simmer and reduce by about half.

 Add the shrimp and mussels.

Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover with a lid, and let the seafood simmer/steam for 5 minutes.  Remove the lid and check for doneness.  If the mussels are open and the shrimp is pink, it's done; if not, replace the lid and let it continue to simmer/steam for up to 5 more minutes.  Discard any mussels that don't open.

Serve with plenty of crusty bread to sop up the juices.

Ceviche De Mi Suegra (My Mother-in-Law's Ceviche)

This yummy, easy ceviche is my mother-in-law Cuqui's recipe.  It's light and fresh, and it smells and tastes like a day at the beach.

1 lb. filets of Basa or other firm, mild-flavored fish
enough lime juice to cover fish, juice of about 8 limes
2-4 finely diced jalapeno peppers, to taste
1 small red onion, finely diced
1 bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped

Since ceviche is not technically cooked, but chemically cooked by the lime juice, be sure to select the freshest fish possible.  Cut the fish into bite-sized pieces.  In a shallow dish place the fish, cover with lime juice, and sprinkle with the jalapeno, onion, and cilantro.

Refrigerate the ceviche and let it marinate for at least 1 hour before serving.