The Original Special Sauce – Sauce Gribiche

Best burger I’ve ever eaten right here. There, I’ve said it. Going way out on a limb. It’s a turkey burger, after all. But, it’s not just a turkey burger, it’s a Turkey Charcuterie Burger .  It has things on it like a French mayonnaise-based sauce, and sautéed apples, and Gruyere. It has things in it like turkey bacon and zucchini.  I might add here that my husband, whose favorite, hands-down meal is a beefy beef burger and fries, who would rather eat that then almost anything, could not stop raving about the flavor, juiciness, and the sauce. Once you have this sauce in your fridge and realize it is an amazing addition to any sandwich, any roasted meat or fish, any fried meat or fish, as well as a spot-on accompaniment to charcuterie, salumi or cold cuts (whatever you call cured meats!), you will always want to have some on hand…or the ingredients to quickly make a batch. And if you do, you will be re-creating a bit of French culinary history because this sauce goes back to the original Escoffier, the bible of French cooking, first published in 1919.

Dijon mustard, onions, tarragon, parsley, hardboiled egg whites, cornichon pickles, and capers.  Make some. So simple. So much flavor.

Stay tuned for the Next Post: Turkey Charcuterie Burger

Sauce Gribiche
adapted from Grant Achitz, as published in Men’s Health 

INGREDIENTS

1 hard-boiled egg white, finely chopped
1 hard-boiled egg yolk
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp finely chopped cornichon pickles
1 Tbsp finely chopped nonpareil capers
1 Tbsp finely chopped shallot or red onion
1 tsp finely chopped parsley
1 tsp finely chopped tarragon
Fine sea salt, or other available salt to taste

PROCEDURE

1. If you are like me and don’t like eating raw onions, blanch the onions first for 1-2 minutes. Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. place the chopped onions/shallots in the bowl of a fine-mesh strainer and immerse the strainer and onions into the boiling water. Let After 1-2 minutes, remove the strainer and the onions from the water, rinse with cool water. Let drain well.

2. Place the mayonnaise in a bowl big enough to hold all the ingredients. Using the back of a spoon or fork, incorporate the egg yolk into the mayonnaise until you have a smooth mixture. Then gently combine all the rest of the ingredients, including the blanched onions, with the mayo/yolk mixture. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to use. Store for up to a week.

 

 

 

 

ideas in food bespoke workshop | exclusive offer limited to 4

I had the pleasure of participating in a day-long workshop with Ideas In Food’s Alex Talbot at the Rittenhaus Tavern in Philadelphia this past week, and since I’m a food, cooking and a gadget geek, I was in a state of agitated bliss. So, of course the first thing that was on my mind as I drove home that day, belly full of lobster done six ways, beef shoulder CVAPPED, deep-fried and burger-ized, handmade pasta with cod tripe tomato sauce, double-butter, no-knead brioche cinnamon buns (see below), and eggs done as umpteen experiments, was: I want to more of this and I have to share this with you all. Somehow.

Hence this special workshop offer. I arranged with Alex to set up a private workshop for a small group (me plus 4) that would take place in his and Aki’s home culinary workshop in Levittown, PA. Normally, these “bespoke” workshops start at around $800 per person, per day, but my relentless enthusiasm and rat-terrier-like persistence (I’ve had two of these terrorizing, but cute dogs) have resulted in a rare (and affordable) opportunity to spend the day immersed in culinary creativity with two of the most talented, creative and innovative chef/teachers in the food world today. It’s a chance to cook, not from recipes, but from inspiration and ideas. A chance to be informed by the food, and led down a path of culinary instinct and creativity. Do you want to be a more creative, intuitive, fearless cook? Do you consider cooking to be a serious hobby/obsession? Do you love great restaurant food and would love to get an inside look at how it evolves from idea to plate? Does the idea of spending a Sunday (August 26) playing with food get you excited? Then don’t wait another second and grab one of the four spots available for this unique opportunity! 

I’ve set up a “party” on this great new site ZOKOS that allows you to create any kind of event/private party that you want to invite people to and share the cost. I think it’s brilliant! Just think how many more dinner parties you would do if you could share the grocery bill? Or the high-end ingredients you’d love to try out on a group of friends but can’t take out another mortgage to do it…ZOKOS may be your answer. So…click through here to be one of the five of us who will participate in this extraordinary day of cooking.

To learn a little bit more about Ideas in Food, here is an excerpt from an interview with Alex Talbot that appeared in Serious Eats:

Modernist cooking may be all the rage today, but back in 2004 it was just getting started, with few resources and even less press. That’s when the husband and wife team H. Alexander Talbot and Aki Kamozawa began their blog Ideas in Food, a digital notebook that chronicled their experiments with hydrocolloids and sous vide machines, and propelled them to the forefront of a whole new world of cooking.

Today their work, which includes a nerdily awesome essay collection and cookbook, is some of the most authoritative writing on modernist cuisine for professionals and home cooks alike. H. Alexander Talbot talked with us about Ideas in Food’s journey, while sharing insights on culinary whimsy and a test kitchen equipped like a science lab.

What do you see as the goal of your work? Our goal is to make cooks we’re in contact with better. How does that work? We’re still figuring it out. We poke and we prod, and we ask questions and look for answers with individuals, groups, and communities. We get people unafraid to ask questions and look under rocks.

Your cooking has a genuine sense of play and joy. What role does play have in your cooking? We find great pleasure in cooking and sharing things. Whimsy and connections are essential. I think it’s a way to connect and tell a story. In all honesty, you can be creative and break through a culinary barrier with whimsy or alliterations or connecting dots. If I say, “pretzel spaetzle,” you have a couple thoughts: that’s clever, it’s caramelized and toasty. I would want to eat that. It also rhymes. Whimsy is an icebreaker with food. You could serve pretzel spaetzle with sweetbreads to get someone to try them. It brings a connection.

What’s great about our workshops and presentations is that we give knowledge and unlock creativity in individuals. We give them their own voice. We share a process and, okay, then the end results, but they key is process, so others can borrow it and make it their own.

What’s next for Ideas in Food? Our first book came out last December. It gives you supporting knowledge and then recipe. Book two has started, which will be photographed by us as well. The premise is using science, technology, and creativity to make most delicious food possible. It’s geared toward passionate people, so my mom will cook from it, but I hope that all sorts of professionals will want to cook from it as well. It will be a book with layers, with something to learn for every level. It should come out June-ish 2013.

Is the new book a sequel or standalone to Ideas in Food? It’s both. Ideas in Food gets you going. It gets you thinking. This will have that same scientific approach, but there will be fewer essays. Ideas, discoveries, and tips will be scattered in headnotes and the recipes themselves. Ideas in Food was a handbook; this will be more of a workbook.

—  Max Falkowitz,  Serious Eats

 

 

 

Lobster Soufflé Americaine: A Tribute To Julia Child

I’m not going to lie. This recipe will take a while. From start to finish, probably three hours. Not including shopping, because this is not one of those “fly by the seat of your pantry” recipes about which I brag that you “probably have everything you need for this already!” It’s JULIA. With JACQUES. It’s lobster. PBS.org is doing a summer long tribute to this doyen of home cooking, this translator of the time-honored French technique for the American audience, in honor of her 100th birthday on August 15th. This recipe and post is my slice of that pie, or should I say soufflé.

When I got the request to do a post on Julia, I had to search my culinary soul for a connection to her. Yes, she’d been on PBS since the early 60s, when I was more focused on cartoons and situation comedies than cooking, and through the  70s and 80s when working in restaurants or doing private catering was what I did to pay the rent while pursuing other more glamourous dreams. Julia was always there, an American icon of TV cooking, a tireless promoter of a wider, more global palate. Even if you never watched her show, you knew her. You recognized the voice from the other room, if you had the TV tuned into the morning shows as background while you got ready for work. She’d done dozens of such appearances. You could appreciate the sincerest flattery when impressionists took on her modulating mad vocals, and belly laugh at the Saturday Night Live version of her antics with a chicken. Like a lot of the country, I have the best seller and subsequent film, Julia and Julia to thank for pulling my attention to her as a real person, a fearless and focused pioneer of what we take for granted now: culinary instruction as entertainment. She ushered in the era of the serious home cook. It was her worship at the alter of fine food, her awe-struck admiration of great restaurant chefs that helped create the era celebrity chefs as well.  From Jacques Pepin to Tom Collichio, and all the TV chefs in between, each have Julia Child to thank in some way for their very public good fortune.

Yet, as I dug into Julia, I realized that it was more personal than that. She was not just the world’s cooking pioneer. What she’d done mirrored some of what I had the opportunity to do nearly 60 years later, though on a much more modest scale. She went to culinary school as a late bloomer, an oddball 36-year-old attending Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. I went to the French Culinary Institute in NYC at age 51 in 2009, where I was in a class of 20 students, most of whom were half my age. After Cordon Bleu, Julia teamed up with two like-minded classmates and started a cooking school. By the time I graduated from FCI, I had my logo, business cards and a plan to start my own “mobile” cooking school, FoodFix. Now, I’m booked months in advance for in-home culinary instruction, cooking parties, corporate cooking demos and team building through cooking. Julia slogged away at writing, a vision for a book that would hand the home cook, on a silver platter, the inspiration and technique they need to enter the glorious world of French cooking. It was nearly 800 pages long and took a total of 10 years to complete and then find a home with a publisher. For 2 years I’ve been writing this blog, dozens of freelance articles and guest posts, chipping away at my own idea for a cookbook, all while hoping that my voice and POV will make a dent in the culinary world, and inspire people to get in the kitchen and eat well, cook well, live well. Nearly  50, Julia broke into TV cooking, hell, she basically invented the genre that made it possible for me, at nearly 55 to appear on a morning show, and a cooking competition show on a network dedicated 24/7 to Food. My private and public dreams of gaining CHEF CRED and some modest place in the public radar are possible in part because of the path she brûléed so many years ago.

Which brings me to another point of intersection between my life and Julia’s, and the reason why I chose a recipe from her book, Cooking With Masters, a companion to her TV series Master Chefs. In this 1993 book, Child showcases 15 established chefs, each offering 3-4 signature recipes that she sort of adapts for the home cook. (I say “sort of” because, 3 hours is hardly what most home cooks would tolerate in 2012 for any recipe…but maybe in 1993 people had more time? They probably did because there was no internet.)  At FCI I got to see Chef Pepin occasionally in the kitchens, and in the halls, and whenever he was doing a demo for students in the school’s amphitheater I would volunteer to assist him. I was lucky enough to get to do this several times, as well as with the other Deans of the school, Chef Alain Sailhac (Le Cirque, 21) and Chef Andre Soltner (Lutece), who is also feature in the book. I too was awe-struck by these master chefs.  I loved being around them, listening to their lyrical French accents which brought me back to my childhood with family gathered around food-laden tables, bantering in French, Enrico Macias or Edith Piaf playing on the stereo.

I had so much fun with this recipe. I dedicated most of a day to it, starting with choosing the lobsters from the tank at my local fish monger, to the final flourish of the tomalley-infused butter on the plate. Those three hours (ok maybe four) going from task to task, building the flavors from the ground up, paying attention to the classic technique, taking time with the small details that make a big difference, I was in focus and in the present each step of the way. I was in my life in the vivid and hands-on-the-wheel way that only cooking gives me. With a knife in one hand and a sweet lobster in the other, there is no dwelling on the past or longing for some imagined future. As for the time it all took, well I’ll quote Julia here and leave it at that: “…nothing is too much trouble if it turns out the way it should.” ― Julia Child, My Life in France


Lobster Soufflé a l’Americaine  
Adapted From Cooking With Masters, Julia Childs
Serves 4

From the introduction to the recipe:

Here is another recipe from the glorious past, first made famous by the Hotel Plaza-Athénée in Paris but based on a great Parisian lobster dish of the 1800s, Homard a l’Americaine—lobster sautéed with tomatoes and cognac. In the Plaza-Athénée version, the sautéed and sauced lobster is arranged in the bottom of a soufflé dish and the soufflé is baked on top of it. Chef Jacques feels the lobster becomes over-cooked this way; he therefore steams the lobster briefly, makes his sauce out of the shells, and cooks a cheese soufflé separately to accompany them…joining them together for the final presentation.

INGREDIENTS

For cooking the lobster: (Can be done ahead, several hours, or even a day.)
4 live lobsters, 1 ½ lbs. each
4 small or 2 large leeks
2 meium yellow onion rough cut
4 carrots, cleaned and rough cut
2 cups white wine
1 cup white wine vinegar
2 lemons, halved
1 Sachet ( These should be tied up together in some cheesecloth, if possible, or if not, then just added to the pot: 1 bay leaf, 1 garlic clove, smashed)
4 quarts water

For the lobster stock:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and rough cut
1 large celery stalk, rough cut
1 medium carrot, scrubbed, unpeeled, rough cut
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled and crushed
2 tablespoons cognac
1 cup dry white wine
1 large tomato or 1 dozen grape tomatoes, cut into 1-inch dice
1 large (14 oz) can crushed tomatoes, simmered and reduced to about 1 cup volume
2 teaspoons Herbs de Provence
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons paprika
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped (leaves and stems)
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
½ teaspoon fennel seeds

To finish lobster sauce:
½ cup heavy cream or half and half
1 ½ teaspoons potato or corn starch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons of room temp water
1 teaspoon cognac (for the tomalley)

For serving:
The Cheese Soufflé (recipe follows)

Equipment:
A large stockpot that can hold 5 quarts of liquid and 4 lobsters.
A colander, set over a large bowl
A fine-mesh sieve set over a small saucepan
A 4-Qt heavy bottomed saucepan

My Notes on Cooking the Lobster

I personally recommend killing lobsters humanely before cooking. It takes more fortitude on your part, but lobsters feel pain and will “scream” and jump if you put them in boiling water or steam them while alive, and I don’t like that experience either. Learning to kill them humanely is not difficult…just requires a sharp knife and quick application of that knife in the right place to sever the central nervous system, and render the experience painless. Another motivation is that the meat will be more tender, as the lobster tends to seize up and contract if thrown into boiling water live. Watch this informative short video of Eric Ripert teaching recreational students (non-professionals) at my alma mater (French Culinary Institute, New York Culinary Experience) how to humanely and instantly kill a lobster. http://youtu.be/Nz4etAin564

If you absolutely feel like you can’t do it this way, then you can drop them into the boiling liquid while live, but do your best to drop them head first, keeping the rubber bands on the claws in place until after cooking.

For cooking the lobster (15 minutes):

The Child/Pepin recipe calls for steaming the lobster for 12 minutes, which I tried, and decided I prefer Thomas Keller’s method of gently cooking shellfish in a Court Boullion, for added flavor and tenderness.
1. Combine all the vegetables and the sachet in a large stockpot, along with the 4 quarts of water. Bring to a rolling boil. Reduce to a simmer and add white wine and vinegar. Squeeze in the lemon juice, then add lemons to the pot. Return to a boil.
2. Add the lobsters, head first, then cover the pot to return the liquid to a gentle boil. Remove lid from pot and then boil for only 1 minute. Remove pot from heat, cover, then let the lobsters steep in the liquid for 9 minutes. Remove lobsters from liquid, reserving two cups of the cooking liquid aside, and transfer lobsters to a baking sheet or tray to cool down enough to handle. About 15 minutes.
3. Working over a bowl, or the tray to capture any juices, one by one, twist off the big claws, joints, and tails. Crack the shells with a nutcracker or mallet, then work to remove meat from all the shells, including knuckle and claw meat. For the tails, hold each tail flat, back shell facing up, and using a sharp knife cut lengthwise in half. With a pair of tweezers, pull out and discard the intestinal vein that runs the length of the tail.
4. Remove the loose tomalley (green matter) from the chest cavities, add the softened butter (2 tablespoons), then using a silicone spatula, press this mixture through a fine sieve into a small saucepan, scraping off the bottom of the sieve to get it all. Reserve.
5. You should have a yield of 2 ½ -3 cups of lobster meat, with some juices. Strain the juices through a fine sieve and pour this liquid back in with the lobster. Cover lobster meat, so it’s airtight (plastic wrap or tight lid) and refrigerate until ready to use. May be done ahead a few hours or 1 day ahead.
6. Chop up the lobster bodies and the shells and reserve for making the stock.

For the Lobster Stock (40 minutes):
1. Set a large saucepan over moderately high heat, add the oil, and when hot stir in the chopped vegetables. Sauté to soften and brown lightly, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, 4-5 minutes. Add the chopped lobster shells/body, and sauté 3-4 minutes. Pour in 2 tablespoons of the cognac, and tilting the pan slightly toward the flame, the cognac should ignite. If working with electric or induction burners, you may have to use a long match to get the cognac in the pan to ignite. (In culinary school we were shown how to put a bit of the spirits on the wooden spoon, bring the spoon to the flame or match, then “carry” the flame over to the pan to ignite the spirits in the pan…try this if all else fails!).
2. Douse the flames with the wine. Add the reserved lobster liquid. Stir in the diced tomato, tomato reduction, and seasonings. Bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. This is a good time to make the Souffle, (see recipe.)
4. After simmering the sauce for 30 minutes, place a colander or large sieve over or in a large bowl. Pour contents of the pan into the strainer or colander. Allow all the juices to drain out of the solid matter, using a ladle or large spoon to press down on them and release as much of the cooking liquid as possible.
5. Strain this liquid through a fine sieve (if you didn’t use a sieve in the first place) into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce down to 1 ½ cups liquid.

For finishing the sauce:

Just before you are ready to serve, (your soufflé is done) Add the cream to the reduced liquid, and stir in the dissolved starch (slurry). Continue to simmer, stirring constantly for 1 minute or so, until the sauce has thickened. Stir in the tablespoon of cognac, and remove from heat. Heat up the tomalley.

For preparing the tomalley:

Set the saucepan with the tomalley over low heat, stirring until it warms through but does not come to a boil. Remove from heat and add a teaspoon of cognac. Serve to pass around with the lobster, or dot over the sauce, when serving.

Assembling the dish:

In the Childs/Pepin recipe it says to: “remove the lobster meat from the refrigerator. About 12 minutes before the soufflé is finished, place the lobster meat in a baking dish, alongside the soufflé to warm the meat through.” I have to say that this did not sound like a good idea to me. To my mind, why bother going to the trouble of gently cooking the lobster in a court boullion to make it tender and flavorful, if you are going to blast it to rubber in the oven? Also, opening the oven door, allowing the temperature to drop and placing something cold in the oven next to my lofty soufflé, kind of horrified me too.

So…what I did: When your soufflé is done, and your sauce and tomalley are heated and ready to go, place your lobster meat in a microwave safe bowl, along with the juices. Cover the bowl with a microwave safe plate or cover. Microwave on high heat for 1 ½ – 2 minutes to just warm through the meat.)

Family Style Presentation: Place the soufflé (still on the bottom of the springform or if you can slide the soufflé off the pan without breaking it, without the pan) in the middle of a large platter and arrange the lobster meat around the soufflé, pour half the sauce around the meat, and dot with tomalley (or serve tomalley separately, for those who don’t like it.) Serve.

Individual plating: Place an equal portion of lobster meat in the bottom of 4 soup plates or shallow bowls, spoon on hot sauce, dot with tomalley. Lay a portion of the soufflé on top of the lobster, or to the side. Serve.

Cheese Souffle for Lobster Americaine  
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

For coating the soufflé dish:
1 tablespoon softened unsalted butter
3 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
1 teaspoon paprika

For the soufflé:
3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk, warmed but not boiling
3 egg yolks
5 egg whites
1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated

Special Equipment:
Springform pan
Hand mixer or stand mixer
PROCEDURE

Coating the springform pan: Smear the softened butter all over the pan bottom and sides. In a small bowl, combine the panko, Parmesan and paprika. Pour this mixture into the buttered springform pan.  Roll the pan around in your hands, distributing the crumb mixture all around, until the pan is evenly coated with it. Hold in the refrigerator until ready for use.

For the Soufflé:
1. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Warm up the milk. Separate eggs and have 3 yolks in a large bowl, and the 5 whites in another large bowl suitable for beating them in (the bowl of a stand mixer or one you can use a hand mixer with.)
2. Melt the chilled butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle the flour in with the butter and whisk until well blended. Cook the roux for 2-3 minutes, whisking constantly so that the mixture begins to have a “nutty” aroma, reminiscent of a pie crust baking. It will bubble and get frothy. You don’t want to brown it too much or burn it, but you also want to cook it enough so your beschamel does not have a raw flour taste to it. Remove the pan from the heat and pour in all the warmed milk at once, whisking vigorously to blend it and the roux. Return to heat and continue whisking. The mixture will thicken quickly and will be quite thick. Remove from heat. While continuing to whisk the beschamel, add one egg yolk or a portion of egg yolk at a time, until all three are incorporated. Hold aside.
3. Beat the egg whites at medium-high speed until stiff, shiny peaks hold their shape.  Gently fold 1/3 of the whites into the beschamel to lighten it. Then scrape the beschamel mixture back into the remaining whites and continue to fold and combine the two, while sprinkling in the Gruyere as you do so.
4. Turn the mixture into the prepared springform pan. Evenly distribute the parmesan cheese over the top, and set the soufflé on a rack set in the lower third of the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, undisturbed, for 30-35 minutes, until the soufflé has risen and browned nicely. It has to be firm enough to stand alone, but not too firm. A narrow straw plunged down through the center should come out almost clean.
5. When done, the soufflé should pull away from the sides of the springform and allow you to easily remove the sides. Or you may need to run a knife around the edges to help release it.

 

 

 

kosher salt and iodine deficiency

Dear Kitchenista,

It seems like chefs all over TV and in restaurants use only kosher salt for cooking. Is it just the feel of it, or is it the taste? What’s the difference between kosher salt and regular table salt?  —  B. Dayton, Irvine, CA

Dear B.,

The short answer is: not much. The long answer follows. This is a timely question for me to answer because I recently took a 24-hour long diagnostic test to determine my body’s iodine level. I found out that I was operating with a more than moderate deficiency in iodine which was the likely reason behind many annoying and chronic symptoms I’d been putting up with like bone-aching fatigue, the need to wear sweaters in 80-degree heat, brittle nails and hair, brain fog (some would argue I’ve always had this), and a few others I don’t have to go into here.

I’ve been using kosher salt exclusively since I started culinary school back in 2009. It’s the chef-y thing to do. Chefs love it because of the hand feel of it. You can grab, pinch, hold and see it when you are seasoning something with it. Unlike finely ground table salt, (which is the preferred salt for baking), it doesn’t disappear as soon as it hits its target, so you can more accurately season something, and you are less likely to over-season. When cooking with kosher salt, you would use more (proportionally) than you would of table salt, but that is only due to the size of the grains—they are a larger, less concentrated grain of salt—not the taste. The big difference between kosher salt and most table salts, I learned the hard way, is that kosher salt does not contain iodine. So for the past three years or so, like a third of the world population, I’ve been getting an insufficient amount of this essential-for-health nutrient.

Now, my iodine deficiency is probably not solely a result of my kosher salt usage. Dairy products are a good source of iodine and I don’t consume a lot of those either, due to a lactose intolerance. I eat a moderate amount of fish, but not enough, I guess, and zero amount of kelp, apparently very high in iodine! The fact is that with more and more Americans avoiding dairy due to intolerances and others avoiding salt due to fears of high blood pressure,  many of us don’t get enough iodine.  In fact, iodine deficiency has been a public health problem in this country before. In the early part of the 1900’s the problem was considered epidemic enough that researchers in the field approached major salt producing companies to add iodine to their products to help boost nationwide iodine levels.

This is not a nutrition blog, so I’m not going to even try to go on an on about this subject, but I did want to introduce the information because finding out about my own deficiency and just taking a tiny amount of iodine supplementation has made a big difference in my health and vitality.  A book my husband (the nutritionist) gave me to read about iodine and why we need it might interest you if you too have been plagued with vague symptoms like mine, that aren’t attributable to anything else.

If you like cooking with kosher salt, you may want to use it solely for hands-on seasoning, where being able to see and feel what you’re doing is important. For salting water to cook in, for baking or other measured seasoning that doesn’t depend on “feel” using an iodized salt could help prevent iodine deficiency. The only place in cooking where iodized salt is not recommended is in pickling, fermenting and long-term brining because the iodine content can end up discoloring the food.

 

three bbq sauces

I have OD’d on tangy. Making three different BBQ sauces in one day and repeatedly tasting them at different stages has left me with a tongue that feels like it needs a good shave. But I had a lot of mad-scientist kind of fun with it. I went to a local farmers market in the morning and bought these lovelies from a small farm in my area that pasture-raises all their livestock and I was inspired. Short Ribs. Spare Ribs. Oh my.

I came home, out of the 90 million degree heat and within a very short time my kitchen looked like this:

Now, I did not reinvent the BBQ sauce (though my kitchen looks like I invented something, then blew it up), but I took a few recipes that I’ve been meaning to try and because I was in an ambitious mood, decided to fool around with all three. It was worth it! It’s worth it just to avoid the ubiquitous, dreaded corn syrup and preservatives in just about every bottle of commercial BBQ sauce out there, (OK maybe not the 15 dollar kind you buy that comes in a thimble-sized bottle at Au Natural Market, but you know what I mean.) One, I’m calling “Black Forest BBQ” called for cherry preserves that I didn’t have in the house and couldn’t find, so with a bag of pitted cherries in the freezer I just went ahead and made those. I know you are impressed, but really, it’s just tossing the cherries and a little Cherry Herring Liquor in a pot with half a cup of sugar and a cup of water and cooking it down until it bubbles and oozes and there’s no moisture left. Voila. I’m glad there was extra preserves leftover because I want this on ice cream or cheesecake or in a Bourbon Old-Fashion very soon.

So, the sauces. They all started with the basic cup of ketchup. (To avoid corn syrup here, Heinz makes a good organic version that does not have it.)

The recipes shared some ingredients here and there: molasses, brown sugar, onion powder in all of them; Worcestershire, soy sauce and garlic powder in two; Liquid Smoke in two; lemon in two. But the rest of the ingredients were what made all the difference. Here is root beer bubbling on the surface of a sauce that had lemon zest, ginger, and orange juice, and ended up as the lighter and fruitier of the group.

And then there was the “Black Forest” with it’s chipotle, cocoa and cherry preserves that looked and smelled like a rich ganache but also had a smokey, spicy kick.  The Bourbon sauce, well, it had Bourbon. Which, come to think of it is probably why my tongue felt like it grew a beard. That sauce had a manly amount of bourbon in it. I’ll save my method for perfect, fall-off-the-bone ribs for another day. I don’t want to overwhelm. I want to inspire. Make your own BBQ sauce for the Fourth. Just one. You don’t have to be silly and make three all in one day like I did. Any one of these is easy, (even if you have to make the cherry preserves), and you will be rewarded with incredible depth of flavor and the gratitude of your guests. Which is what we do it for, isn’t it. Flavor and flattery. My life’s work!

BTW, my favorite was the cherry, cocoa, chipotle, which I refer to from now on as the Black Forest, (you know, that cake with the chocolate and the cherries and whipped cream that I could eat a whole one of). The cocoa notes, the smokey chipotle and the dark, fruity cherry was so surprising and really complex. It was especially delicious on the short ribs, chased down by a substantial red wine. What are you doing on the Fourth? We are going to watch fireworks over the Delaware River, not far from where George Washington crossed it, making this grand holiday possible. Let me know how you’ll be spending yours!

Black Forest (Cherry, Cocoa, Chipotle) BBQ Sauce
adapted from Steven Raichlen, Francine Maroukian, and The Bon Apetit Test Kitchen 

INGREDIENTS

1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup cherry preserves
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons light molasses
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon lemon zest (microplane)
1-2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo (depending on the heat level you want)
1 tablespoon adobo sauce from the chile can
1 teaspoon liquid smoke (hickory flavor)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

NOTES: Chipotle chilies in Adobo are usually available in the “ethnic” section of most large grocery stores, or in Latin specialty stores. Liquid Smoke is a smoke-flavored liquid seasoning you’ll find near the bottled BBQ sauces and ketchup in most grocery stores.

PROCEDURE

1. Place all the ingredients in the blender or food processor. (You can mix it all in a bowl by hand, but I wanted to puree the cherries from the preserves to end up with a smooth sauce that had the cherries distributed throughout…so I blended.) Blend or process until smooth.

2. Pour the mixture into a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer for 10 minutes, over medium-low heat, stirring often. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cool down before refrigerating. May be made up to 1 week ahead. Store in airtight container.

Soda Fountain BBQ Sauce
adapted from Steven Raichlen 

INGREDIENTS
1 cup cola or root beer
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

PROCEDURE

1. Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to low heat and simmer until the mixture is reduced to about 1 1/2 cups, stirring as needed for about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cool down before refrigerating. Make ahead and store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Bourbon BBQ Sauce
adapted from Steven Raichlen 

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup bourbon
1 cup ketchup
3 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoon molasses
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
PROCEDURE

1. Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to low heat and simmer until the mixture is reduced to about 1 1/2 cups, stirring as needed for about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cool down before refrigerating. Make ahead and store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.