This new and “improved” peaches and cream recipe might not
have tasted any better than the classic, but at least it was more complicated.
Turns out that a splash of cold, fresh cream is all that sweet, ripe peaches
need, which is probably why no one ever cooks it first when making this.
It wasn’t like the first version was horrible to eat. It
wasn’t, but the cooked, sweetened cream, sort of fought with the peaches, both texturally, and with the natural sweetness of the fruit. The lemon didn’t help
things either, but at least I was able to appreciate the real one I made after
coming to my senses.
As usual, I’ve listed the amounts I used below, but you
should adjust the sugar syrup depending on the sweetness of your peaches. If
they’re amazingly sweet and juicy, just slice them, and cream them up.
Otherwise, modify as needed, but either way, I really do hope you give peaches
and cream, the classic version, a try soon. Enjoy!
Traditionally, summer sausage is made, and cured in the
winter, so that it’s ready to enjoy during the summer, but unless you have some
sort of time machine, we’re going to have to settle on this easy, and much
faster, shortcut method. Despite only taking a few days, this really is very
close in taste and texture to everybody’s favorite gift-basket sausage.
The method is very simple, but just be sure to test for
doneness with a thermometer, ideally a probe thermometer, which will alert you
when the center of your sausage has reached your target temperature of 150 F. This
will ensure we achieve a smooth, salami-like texture.
As far as the taste goes, feel free to spice this anyway you
want. With just a little bit of research you could use this simple technique to
make many similarly styled sausages, like your own personalized pepperoni, or signature
salami. No matter how you flavor this, it will help if you do include a pinch
of pink curing salt (aka Insta Cure #1), which you hopefully have leftover from
our homemade ham recipe.
If not, it’s easy to find online, but for the record, the
recipe will work without it, just not maybe quite as spectacularly. By the way,
if you’re not sure about using nitrites, check out this great article by Michael Ruhlman. Curing salts aside, I really do hope you give this great summer
sausage recipe a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for One 2-pound Summer Sausage:
1/4 cup diced celery, minced or smashed into juicy bits
2 pounds freshly ground beef (85/15 lean to fat ratio)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 rounded tablespoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons whole mustard seeds
20 grams kosher salt (2 tablespoons if you use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt.
This is best done by weight.)
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
pinch of cayenne
1/4 teaspoon pink curing salt (Insta Cure #1)
1 tablespoon white sugar
For the “smoking” wash:
1 tablespoon liquid smoke mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water
- Cook at 275 F. for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or to an
internal temp of 150 F.
I would not have guessed this bacon-studded “cheese corn” is
a popular bar snack in Korea, although it does make sense, since this really would
be amazing with a cold beer. I’m guessing that American soldiers might have had
something to do with the creation of this amazing amalgamation, but
nevertheless, this stuff is pure bacon-y, creamy, cheesy, corny decadence…and
this is the light version.
The original recipe uses a combination of mayonnaise and
sweetened condensed milk (which I still can’t fully wrap my head around), but
we’re going with heavy cream here, for a less sweet, less oily approach. This
may be the first time in my career that I’ve “lightened up” a recipe by adding a
cup of heavy cream.
I used frozen corn with great success, but if you did want
to use fresh corn, be sure to blanch it, or panfry it first, to take off the
raw edge. The broiling step really doesn’t cook the casserole, but rather just
browns the cheese on top, and so we want everything nicely cooked by that
point. Either way, I really do hope you give this delicious, and apparently
Korean twist on creamed corn a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for one 10-inch skillet:
8 ounces bacon
2 pounds sweet corn, very well drained
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch green onion, sliced
2 or 3 jalapeno peppers, diced
salt, freshly ground black pepper, and cayenne to taste
I believe this ping gai chicken is the first Laotian recipe
we’ve ever posted on the blog, but based on how incredibly delicious this was,
it won’t be the last! Having said that, based on my several minutes of exhaustive
research, this particular recipe seems to have originated from the Queen Mother Cafe in Toronto, so I’m not sure how much North Americanization has occurred,
but it’s only a matter of time before someone lets me know.
Besides all the freshly ground black pepper, the other key
element here is the equally generous amount of chopped cilantro, which
unfortunately not everyone is able to enjoy. For roughly 10% of the population,
the herb tastes like soap, so below I’m going to provide you with a substitute
herb blend that will get you pretty close.
You can use this same marinade with chicken breasts, but I
really think the darker, richer meat makes for a much better match with the
herbaceous, black pepper flavor profile. By the way, some recipes call for
garlic in the marinade, and some don’t, but since my dipping sauce was going to
be very garlicky, I didn’t add any to mine. As usual, suit yourself, but either
way I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 Large Portions Ping Gai Chicken:
