Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

[r_barton]

Here’s a recipe I’ve developed and use. Homemade Mexican Chorizo. Homemade from scratch, so you know what’s in it.

Homemade Mexican Chorizo

1-lb ground pork (sometimes I use ground turkey)
1/4 cup cider vinegar

Dry Ingredients:
2 Tbsp medium hot chili powder
1 Tbsp sweet paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp crushed dried oregano
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground black pepper

Combine dry ingredients in small bowl and stir until well combined.
In a large bowl, sprinkle vinegar over ground pork. Mix well.
Sprinkle all dry ingredients over ground pork. Mix well by kneading mixture until dry ingredients are well combined into the ground pork.
Place in an airtight container, overnight in fridge, to allow flavors to combine and develop.

I form these into small patties or just scramble and fry the meat in a cast iron skillet until done.

Good in a with scrambled eggs in a flour tortilla.

[disndat]

There is plenty of salt in the bouillon. My wife says most of the time she just uses that and the tomatoes and the rice. Nothing else. It tastes fine to me like that.

I have a hand grinder. I used to hunt a lot and made plenty of wild game burger. And the ginger and coriander I use is powdered but I chop the fennel...and chop. It has more flavor. I buy all my spices and yeast in the bulk section so I can get about what I am going to use so it doesn’t sit in the cupboard for weeks. The real key to the sausage is to let it sit in the fridge a couple of days to let the spices penetrate the meat.

And the fish we eat is trout we catch. My son went fishing after work tonite. My neighbors eat a lot of fish.

Try a bit of Catalina salad dressing on a taco. We use a taco seasoning mix in the package, usually McCormick’s. I can’t really say if it any good or not. :) The Catalina, to me, is really good, and helps with the taco meat taste if it is a bit off. My aunt makes a “taco” salad that calls for Catalina dressing. That is where I got that idea.

[V K Lee]

Or, as an British friend would say, ‘You glisten’ :) Sounds so refined, yes?

[r_barton]

Favorite Homemade Condiments that I make.

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Copycat Kraft Thousand Island Dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbs ketchup
1 Tbs distilled white vinegar
2 tsp granulated sugar
2 tsp sweet pickle relish
1 tsp onion, minced
1/8 tsp table salt
dash pepper

Makes about 3/4 cup.

Combine ingredients in mixing bowl.
Mix well. Place in fridge several
hours to allow flavors to blend.

---

Copycat Kraft Catalina Salad Dressing

2/3 cup ketchup
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup onion, minced
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Makes about 2-1/2 cups.

Process ingredients in a food processor
or blender until smooth.
Place in fridge several
hours to allow flavors to blend.

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Copycat Heinz Shrimp Cocktail Sauce

1 cup ketchup
2 Tbs A1 Steak Sauce
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs Horseradish Sauce, cream style
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp red pepper hot sauce
1/4 tsp table salt

Mix well. Store in fridge.

---

Thai Peanut Dipping Sauce

4 Tbs peanut butter
2 Tbs vegetable oil
4 Tbs soy sauce
4 Tbs granulated sugar
4 tsp distilled white vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp sriracha sauce (or other red pepper hot sauce)
1/4 tsp ground coriander

Mix ingredients well. Serve over pot stickers, steamed
rice, Asian Noodles etc.

---

Homemade Taco dry Seasoning

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbs chili powder
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp table salt

Mix well. Mix with 2-pounds of raw
ground meat (beef or turkey) and cook
until done in frying pan.

---

Homemade Medium Hot Chili Powder

5 Tbs ground New Mexico Chili’s
2 Tbs paprika
2 Tbs ground cumin
2 Tbs garlic powder
2 Tbs onion powder
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1/4 to 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)

Mix well. Make 3/4 cup.
For milder chili powder use 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper.
For medium hot chili powder use 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper.

---

Copycat Bell’s Poultry Seasoning

3-Tbs dried rosemary
2-3/4 Tbs dried oregano
2-1/2 Tbs dried sage
2-1/4 Tbs dried ginger
2 Tbs dried marjoram
1-3/4 Tbs dried thyme
3/4 Tbs ground black pepper

Makes about 1-cup

Mix all ingredients well. Grind to
a fine powder in spice or coffee grinder.

---

Copycat Bulls Eye BBQ Sauce

1 cup ketchup
6 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
4 Tbs butter
3 Tbs distilled white vinegar
1 Tbs prepared yellow mustard
3 Tbs minced or dehydrated onion
4 tsp Hickory flavored liquid smoke
1/4 tsp red pepper hot sauce (Tabasco, Crystal, Franks)
1/2 cup brown sugar**
1 Tbs granulated sugar**
1 tsp table salt

Makes about 2 cups.

Combine ingredients in saucepan. Mix well.
Simmer 15-minutes on low heat until sauce thickens.

I have also substituted Splenda white and brown sugar
in this recipe and can’t tell the difference from real sugar.

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Copycat Best Foods Tartar Sauce

3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons Dill Relish
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried onion flakes
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Mix well. Place in fridge at least 2 hours to
allow flavors to blend and develop/

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Homemade Best Foods/Hellmanns Mayonnaise using stick blender

1 whole egg, medium or large size (or 1/4 cup regular Eggbeaters)**
1 Tablespoon lemon juice (bottled ok)
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon dry mustard (or 1/4 tsp prepared yellow mustard)
1/4 teaspoon table salt
pinch white pepper
1 cup vegetable (canola) oil, room temperature

Break egg into bottom of 1-quart
canning jar or other tall narrow jar
that allows you to immerse the mixing blades of a stick
blender all the way to the bottom. The jar should be only slightly
wider than the end of the stick blender.

Add lemon juice, vinegar, mustard,
table salt and white pepper.

Add 1 cup of vegetable oil.

Place mixing blades of stick blender (turned off) all the
way to the bottom of the jar, pressing down over the egg.

Turn stick blender on high speed, hold in
place at bottom of jar for about
5-seconds until you see mayonnaise form
under stick blender’s mixing blades.

Slowly pull stick blender upward until the mixing blades
reaches top of jar, taking about
5 more seconds. The stick blender will turn
the oil into mayonnaise as it is pulled slowly to the
top of the jar.

After chilling in the fridge, this mayonnaise gets
slightly thicker and tastes very much like Best Foods/
Hellmann’s Mayonnaise.

Makes about 1-1/3 cups of mayonnaise.

**I have also used 1/4 cup of regular eggbeaters instead of a raw egg. That works great also. Eggbeaters says on the label that it is double pasteurized so no worries about salmonella.

[Duchess47]

Thank you so much for those recipes. One of my favorite hobbies is making my own spices and condiments.

[PUGACHEV]

Actually, I buy Mi Arroz at my local Safeway for about $2 a four-pack. The amount of salt I gave you suits me, but some people may find it too much.

[PUGACHEV]

Of course beans go well with Mexican rice. I have a routine of making enchiladas with beans and rice every Saturday night, and I start the beans Friday night. Here's my recipe for Borracho beans. Put two cups of Pinto Beans in three quarts of hot water the night before, and let them soak. Drain the water the next afternoon and refill with 2" of water above the beans. Add 1/2 Tbs of garlic powder and boil on medium high for about 1.5 hours, or until the water is just down to the beans. At this point they should be reasonably soft. Next, add two cans of Rotel tomatoes with chilies, 1 Tbs of Chili Powder, 1 Tbs of Cumin, 1 Tbs of Onion powder, +1 Tbs of Bacon Base, +1 Tbs of Roasted Garlic Base (both available from Amazon). Add 2 cups of Beer (Miller is my choice if only because I am going to drink what's left) and 1 cup of water (sometimes less), and 1/4 cup of Corn Oil. If you do not have Garlic or Bacon Base, you can use chopped garlic and chopped cooked bacon, but the flavor will not be as intense. You can also add 1 or 2 chopped jalapenos for heat, or don't add any. Boil on medium low for another hour +/-, or until the beans are really soft and would slide out of their skin. Finally, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of Smoke Flavor and simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes. Let it cool and serve. Adding salt before you are almost finished toughens the bean and makes everything harder to cook.

If you look hard you can find a legacy bean known as an Anasazi bean. They look like pintos, same size and shape, but are a bit sweet, and do not need to be soaked at all. You can cook them to soft in 1 hour. You can substitute Anasazi beans for pinto beans if you like.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Excellent !

[mylife]

chili is done in cooler weather, meat, chili onion tomato, cumin and Mexican oregano.

You can ad surprises but its pretty simple.

Beans cilantro white diced onion cheese sour cream cornbread crackers, all that goes on the side

[mylife]

Love Barrocho beans

[beethoven]

Thank you for your post! I didn't know Knorr made that particular seasoning. I love Mexican rice, but I don't have a recipe I'm happy with. I'm going to look for the spices you suggested tomorrow!

[beethoven]

Wow! Thanks for the great recipes!

[mylife]

Throw a smoked ham hock or two in there buddy!

[beethoven]

I found this recipe when looking up the Knorr seasoning:

http://www.knorr.com/recipes/detail/46235/1/mexican-style-rice

[okie01]

Pendery's Best Chile Blends

Pendery's Terlingua Winners

Pendery's -- a Fort Worth institution, housing the freshest and highest quality herbs and seasonings available in the known universe. Specializes in chile mixes...

[beethoven]

Good grief! I live in Texas and wasn’t aware of Pendery’s.... Their web site is impressive.

[okie01]

Good grief! I live in Texas and wasn’t aware of Pendery’s.... Their web site is impressive.

We live within driving distance. You walk into the shop and are immediately overcome by all the good smells.

Over time, the thing about their herbs and spices that you come to appreciate most is how long they maintain their freshness. Even though we buy some of them (e.g., the Whole Italian Mix, Provencal Mix, Thai Mix) in relatively large packages -- 4 and 8 oz -- it remains potent for months.

We've also decided that Pendery's is our Christmas store. Family and friends get care packages of Pendery's herbs, seasonings and chile mixes. And they all look forward to it.

The place is really an extraordinary find if you're into cooking...in just about any cuisine.

[beethoven]

I just spent time navigating through their website. It’s funny you mention gifts, I was thinking how nice it would be to send some of their combinations for gifts! I love to cook a variety of cuisines. I’ve ordered Penzeys spices in the past, but was disappointed in the shelf life. San Antonio is a little too far for a day trip (darn), but I can certainly mail order. Thank you again.... 🌶🌶🌶

[Yaelle]

I think burrata is getting easier to find. That gazpacho looks yummy.

Why yes, we do have a favorite chili recipe. Course! I got mine in Switzerland — don’t faint, from another American, of course — and it was her aunt’s recipe. I lost touch forever ago with that friend, only remember her first name. But we make her chili all the time. It’s yummy. I have it downstairs so I will get it tomorrow.

[r_barton]

Refried Black Beans

This is really good and has a different, and I think
better taste than refried beans from pinto beans.

1 (15 oz) can black beans with liquid
1/2 cup red or green salsa (Pace, La Victoria, etc)
1/4 cup grated cheese (pepper jack, Velveeta, etc)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried onion flakes
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/8 tsp salt (table, seasoning, smoked, etc)
2 Tbsp salad oil
1 Tbsp bacon bits

2 Tbsp cold water
1 Tbsp cornstarch

Add beans, salsa, cheese, chili powder, onion,
garlic, salt, oil and bacon bits to a saucepan.

Heat and simmer 5-minutes.

Partially mash with fork or partially blend with a stick blender.

Mix cold water with cornstarch and add to refried beans.

Simmer for 2-minutes until liquid in beans thickens.

Serve warm.