I forgot I promised to post the video for the simple peach sauce I used to drizzle over the duck breasts in the stove-top sous vide recipe. I've done sauces similar to this in the past, but used the term gastrique to describe them.
Technically, a gastrique starts with caramelized sugar, to which sugar and fruit juice are added, but for my purposes here in Food Wishes land, it was close enough. So, while I was putting this quick and dirty clip together, the working name was "peach gastrique." Then I remembered I'm not French, and most likely neither are you.
At that point, I decided to simply call it a peach sweet and sour sauce. What it lacks in pretentious French cooking lingo-ness, it more than makes up for in accuracy and approachability. Beyond semantics, there really is no recipe here, but more of a ratio.
One part vinegar, two parts peach preserves, three parts chicken broth, plus whatever seasonings. Boil, reduce, and serve – and of course, enjoy!
Ingredients for 2 portions of Peach Sweet and Sour Sauce: 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar 2 tablespoons peach preserves 3 tablespoons chicken broth or other liquid (wine, fruit juice, etc.) pinch of Chinese 5-Spice pinch of cayenne salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, depending on what you are serving it on (mine didn't need any, since I was serving over nicely salted, crispy duck skin). View the complete recipe
We did it! I'm proud to announce that I've returned from Hollywood, Tasty Awards trophy in hand! It was a very long, short two-day trip, so I'm going to keep this brief. I can't thank you all enough for taking the time to vote.
Every single time I've asked for support with a contest or award, you faithful foodwishers come through like champs. It's one of the oldest clichés in the business, but it's so true, without the audience, there is no show.
I met some amazing new people, and got to visit some dear old friends. Speaking of friends, I have to give a big shout out to my buddy Sara (aka Average Betty), who won the 2010 Home Chef award, and was nominated in more categories this year than any other show. Unfortunately, she was robbed, but it was an impressive showing nonetheless.
Los Angeles was a lot of fun, but I'm excited to be back and cooking in chilly, not-quite-as-glamorous San Francisco. Thanks again, and stay tuned for a bunch of new videos airing soon!
I'm in glamorous Hollywood, CA (pictured here is my glamorous hotel), for the Tasty Awards. You can read about exactly what that is here, but I wanted to post a quick note to let you know I'll be here until Friday, so please pardon me if I'm not able to respond to an email or comment.
A sincere thanks to all of you who helped me get this nomination. Wish me luck! (not to win the award, but to survive my stay! ;-)
Why am I doing a baby back ribs video in the dead of winter. I love how they taste. Sorry I don't have a more interesting answer for you, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let the earth's periodical tilting away from the sun prevent me from enjoying these tasty pieces of pork. I'll be the first to admit this is not the best technique for doing ribs. You just can't replace slowly roasting the meat over smoky coals, but, that said, this baked in the oven version is way beyond respectable. I've always found baby back ribs a very user-friendly product. Unless you severely over or undercooked them, they're pretty hard to mess up. I know I'm going to get all kinds of tips and tricks for the ultimate rib – the plastic wrap, the steaming, the braising, the marinating – but quite frankly, I've never seen the need. Maybe this summer I'll try some of the more interesting ideas, but for this early January, this will do just fine. Speaking of ideas, yes, those are chicharrones on the plate of ribs. You're welcome.
This works with literally any dry rub and barbecue sauce combo. I've posted a basic, all-purpose rub recipe below, in case you're interested. For the sauce, I've of course used Michele's SFQ, but any premium quality barbecue sauce will work.
Anyway, if you're in the mood for a little virtual trip into summer, I hope you give this technique a try. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 1 full rack of baby back ribs 1 cup barbecue sauce
Dry Rub Recipe (makes a lot extra) 1/4 cup salt 1/4 white sugar 1/4 raw sugar (turbino) or brown sugar 1/2 cup ancho chili powder 2 tbsps freshly ground black pepper 1 tbsp ground cumin 1 tsp dry mustard 1 tsp cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper
I forgot I promised to post the video for the simple peach sauce I used to drizzle over the duck breasts in the stove-top sous vide recipe. I've done sauces similar to this in the past, but used the term gastrique to describe them.
