Cap'n Shrimpy's Butterflied Shrimp

There's a man at the farmer's market that we know only as "Cap'n Shrimpy," and that we only call him to each other- never to him. He sells the best shrimp in town. There's another fish market that sells shrimp, but going into that place is like entering a parallel universe similar to the one in which elves are doing photo shoots outside my back patio. It's not a place I'm entirely comfortable in.

Anyway, for 7.50 a pound, the Cap'n will sell you these guys right here:For free he'll tell you how to butterfly them and grill them. And so will I. Check it out:

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First you have to tend to the garlic butter. Get yourself two cloves of garlic.Give them a rough dice, and then throw a pinch of kosher salt on them. We're making a paste.Now take your chef's knife and spread it across the cutting board for about ten good passes- it'll go something like this:What you now have, my friends, is gold. Put that gold, along with a stick of butter (for two people, that is) in a saucepan and get it all going at medium-low. Start this part before anything else so the butter can get right for about 20 minutes, then strain the garlic out, along with the other solids from the butter, and split it in two. One part is now to be brushed on during cooking, and the other is for dipping. We also used the mango-habanero hot sauce for dipping, and it was really, really good.

Now, back to the shrimp.

When you get 'em all prepped, they should look like this:I keep them on ice until the moment they hit the grill. I get like that sometimes.

Preheat your grill to "super-hot." Add shrimp. Baste.
It only takes about 3 minutes from the moment these bad boys hit the grill until you take them off. The shell protects them for burning and adds flavor. When they turn opaque, take 'em off and stack 'em up like gold ingots in Fort Knox.
Oh yeah.One last step for this Tex-Carib feast- put on the appropriate tunes. On vinyl if you have it.

And I do.

Enjoy. And I'll see you soon.

A Word on Hot Sauce

I love me some hot sauce. I've made about a dozen variations of the kind the Taco Lady behind the farmers' market in Houston always had on hand to doctor up her delicious tacos al pastor, which were my favorite. It involves a couple of varieties of dried peppers and some soaking, simmering, and blending along with some other ingredients. It's hard to mess with it too much though, when you can buy Cholula at just about any southern grocery store.

Cholula, for the uninitiated, is all you really need to know about hot sauce. It's the same color as most of the orange grease that comes with chorizo, barbacoa, and some of the other staple meats of true behind-the-farmers' market taco stands. The ingredients are simple, too: peppers, spices, vinegar. How can you go wrong?

I love you, "spices."

Nevertheless, I get my hankerin's for something a little different sometimes. And that brings us to another tasty Tex-Carib recipe experiment.

A frequent player in the Caribbean/Tex-Carib lineup of ingredients is the habanero pepper. It looks like this:
That is to say, they look like that.

Recently, Cara and I got a Bobby Flay video on Netflix (what? Is that weird?), and he made a mango-habanero hot sauce. What I present to you now is exactly that, but with my witty banter to make it different. And I had to use a different type of vinegar for half of the vinegar needs, and I'm sure that made mine far superior to Bobby's. Yeah. That's right.

Here's what you need:
In English, that's two habaneros, two mangoes, a small sweet onion of some kind, white wine vinegar (and rice wine vinegar too, I ran out of white about halfway through), two cloves of garlic, and olive oil (Flay used canola I think, so there's another difference!).

Butcher your mango. I slice the peel off all over, then carve big chunks of fruit off the oblong shaped pit. I had about this much, keeping in mind that my hand is the size of a tennis racket:Just kidding about the hand size, of course.

I coarsely chopped the onion, galic, and peppers, and threw the whole enchilada into a sauce pan with half a cup of white wine vinegar, and half a cup of rice vinegar, and a pinch of salt. I also simmered it for 15 minutes, but I'm getting tired of talking in the past tense. I'm living for the now, baby!

Put it all in a blender.Blend. If it's too thick, add some hot water or a little more vinegar. Mine was fine as it was.The cool thing is the heat hits you first with this stuff, with a sweet mango finish.

Next time I'll show you what we had with it. There is even a bonus instructional video included in the price. Can't beat that.

Oh, yeah- I typed "Tex-Carib" into Google yesterday to see if that term is already being used, and this site came up on the first page. Sweet!

Tex-Carib Lives!

I've really been thinking a lot about the culinary mindset I'm bringing back from Haiti. The ideas I'm getting, and already playing with, aren't going to get me a Nobel prize or anything, but they're fun, gosh darn it. It's kinda like the things I already like to cook and eat, but a little different. Different peppers, spices (or spice combinations), and ingredients (plantains, mangoes). But much of the technique involves things that land squarely in my arena, such as grillin', chillin', and fryin'.

Okay, so chillin' is not a technique, but it is a necessary mindset to Tex-Carib cookin'. So is ending an inordinate amount of words with apostrophes. Yo.

First up- the Haitians were selling corn, that they apparently grow in their yards or any other square foot of soil they can find, hot off the grill. A grill in Haiti, mind you, is really a grate laid across some bricks with some burning wood or charcoal underneath. Like camping, but on a sidewalk. In a city.

So how do you make sidewalk grilled corn Tex-Carib grilled corn? You experiment to make it better than the original.

Corn Three Ways- The Experiment

The corn I saw being grilled was all shucked and getting caramelized over the fire. I've always grilled my corn in the husks so they steam some too, but it's always taken a while to cook that way. So what we did was take three ears, and prepare them three different ways. One all the way shucked, one partially, and one just a wee bit. All of the shucks were rolled back and the silks removed before cooking.

The Results:
Nice picture, ain't it? You should click on it to see it full sized.

Here's the breakdown: the un-shucked ear tasted great, until we tasted the next one, and then the next one after that. The steaming action of the shuck made the corn taste "cornier," which we liked better. The solution? Grill it all with the shuck on, then remove the shuck and throw it back on the heat for a minute to get the sweet caramelized nuggets of brown.

I'm not saving the world here- I just want the grills of said world to yield tastier food. You know, in case I come over to eat. Come back soon for some Tex-Carib classics such as mango-habanero hot sauce and Cap'n Shrimpy's butterflied grilled shrimp, which make this corn look like a side dish.

Spring Break Breakfast

Another quarter is behind me- five down to be precise. Today I woke up free of concern about final exams. This made me hungry. It also just so happens that the morning light is the best around here for food pictures, so you get to see how I make what we often call the "bird's nest." Start by peeling and then grating a large russet potato. Squeeze some of the excess moisture out of it with some paper towels and then season with salt and pepper.
The scallion will make its contribution later. While you're making your coffee or tea (green tea for me, please), heat up a dutch oven, cast iron skillet, or even non-stick pan to medium low or so. I put my range top on three and a half, but like my bass amp, it goes to 11. Fill it with copious amounts of butter. And please- use real butter. It's what Mary says, and Mary knows her fats.

Next, heap half of your tater pile into the heated vessel of your choice. Then make it look more or less like a circle, or whatever shape you decide upon. There is lots of room for individual expression here. I'm a circle man:
The morning light doesn't quite spread its warmth to the bottom of the pan in this case, but you get the idea.

Now for the hard part- walk away for about five minutes. Leave it alone. Let it get crispy.

Then flip it and repeat. Then put it on a plate and take a picture. It should look like this, but with your plate, not mine:
You should have enough to make another one. Do it. The grated taters don't keep, and your spouse won't be happy when you go eating breakfast without them. Everyone wins, except the tater. This gets called "The Bird Nest" because we always throw an egg on top, and today we happened to have a just-oh-so avocado on hand. The final product looked like this for about three minutes:
It was all then appropriately hot sauced, and consumed with passion. See you at the gym!

Chicken! Prunes! Brandy!

Apparently, we now have a subscription to Bon Appetite magazine. Neither Cara nor I remember subscribing or anything, but it showed up in the mail box all the same. We did have some old airline miles that may be playing a role in this, but whatever.

I once looked through a Bon Appetite in a waiting room or some such, and I remember not knowing what any of the ingredients were- it was a all so darn fancy. Shallots? Demi-glace? Huh? Of course, that was a long time ago, before my freakish cooking obsession really hit hard. Now I'll have another source of inspiration to share with you- my primary source, by the way, is Cook's Illustrated, which is the best cookin' magazine around. No, really.

Anyhow- I know many people think prunes are something old people eat to stay regular. Some have begun to call them "dried plums" so people will know what they actually are- and you like plums, don't you? You could make this without them, but that would be a mistake.

First, open a bottle of brandy. For all my church friends reading this that means you'll have to go to a liquor store. Liquor stores are often closed on Sunday, by the way. I always realize this on Sundays when I need some liquor, but that's another post altogether.

There is probably a brand that would be the best for this recipe, but since I know very little about brandy, I just bought something in the mid range in price- the recipe in the magazine called for "Armagnac," which after doing some "research" (thanks, internet!) I have discovered that, yes, Armagnac is expensive, fancy-pants brandy that they probably wouldn't sell at Walgreen's Liquors here in town. As a matter of fact, I know they don't. They do sell about ten kinds of cheap brandy, though. I got E&J for no real reason. It worked fine.

I really more or less looked at the picture in the magazine and skimmed the recipe than copy it exactly, by the way. I did, as the recipe says, boil the prunes (I used about eight of 'em) in 1/3 cup of brandy until the liquid was absorbed.

I then broke out my sweet buffet casserole braiser and browned four chicken thighs skin side down (after I had salted and peppered them that is- kosher salt, please).
Before: After:
They're not all the way cooked yet or anything- the skin just needs some alone time to get lookin' that good. Next- I poured out a little bit of the accumulated fat (not much), and threw in the freshly peeled shallots:
The goal here is to get 'em all browned and delicious. Like this:
Next, you've gotta deglaze the pan with some more (1/3 cup) brandy- this means pour it in and get to scraping the fond (brown stuff stuck to pan) up to make the sauce rich and delicious. Like this:
Now you're in the home stretch. Just add the chicken back to the pan with a little thyme, and about a cup of chicken stock, and put the lid on as it simmers away for about half and hour.
After the chicken was cooked through I took it out, and added a dash of white wine vinegar (the recipe said sherry wine vinegar, but I didn't have any). I reduced the sauce for a few minutes and poured it over the chicken. in the mean time I cooked up some broccoli and taters. It looked like this at the end:
Here's the picture from the magazine and my version side by side:
So, to sum up you need:
brandy
chicken
chicken stock
shallots
prunes
thyme
salt and pepper

And the secret ingredient:

Love

In other news, I just had my first ever political telephone poll. Go Ron Paul!

The Essentials Part Two: Want vs. Need

Some of the things I use every day in the kitchen are, in the world of MRP, needs, not just wants. On the top of the list in the needs category is a really good knife. I've gone back and forth about the differences between German and Japanese made knives. I have both- the Henckels five star series representing Germany, and the beauty below speaking for Japan. She's a Shun and she's become my favorite.

Notice the purty wavy lines. Like a Samurai sword.

There is much to say about knives. The main thing is this: get a good one. It'll make your life in the food prep department so much easier you'll actually want to cook even if you don't think you like cooking. And for the rest of what there is to say about knives, I give you Alton Brown:



This teapot is a want but it sure is nice to have. I start my day off with a cup of green tea in lieu of coffee. Like a Samurai.
Sauciers are more of a need at this point in my game. They're great for making a lot more than sauces, too. The Caribbean blue one is made by Le Creuset, the shiny one is All Clad.

The next items are definitely needs. You can't cook without shallots, garlic, or olive oil. I realize that these are ingredients, but what good are all the fancy pants pans without the right things to put in them?


You want prep bowls. You can measure out everything you need, if you're into measuring, which I'm not. It's still nice to have some place to out all the stuff I slice and dice before it goes in the pot. These have lids, too, which is nice when I over slice and/or dice.
And all this other stuff is mostly want, with a few need. You absolutely need some good tongs. These are made by Oxo, and they're my favorite. I have one other pair, but they were in the dishwasher. That's why I have three- cause one is always in the dishwasher. Whisks make the creation of sauces much easier. The wooden spoon I include because of its beautiful patina. I've been working on that stain for over ten years.
Now you know what to get yourself when you start returning all those unwanted Christmas gifts.

The squirrels are getting feisty around here, so that means it's blowgun time. I'll try to get some video for all the dudes who read this site in hopes of more lung-powered mayhem. Merry Christmas.

The Essentials, Part One

If I've ever come to your house to cook something, I probably brought a few tools to the party. If I didn't, I probably wished I had. Here's why: Most people don't have some of the basic weapons of war for the modern culinary warrior. And if I say it like that it sounds way more masculine than, "you don't have good tongs or a zester."

I've been meaning to post this info for awhile, but I kept putting it off because I was busy learning huge lists of anatomy and neurology at school. Now that the tests are over and the lists are forgotten I can get back to the important things in life. This episode of The Essentials will focus on cooking vessels. You do, however, need a good pair of tongs.

Item number one- A cast iron skillet. If you've hung out here at all you've seen this a few times:Just look at her. So shiny. So smooth and glassy. This is a Griswold skillet, which aren't made anymore. Cara's grandmother gave it to me. I have several other skillets in several sizes, but this one is special. I often scramble eggs in her with no sticking. You don't have to have a Griswold, but you should have a cast iron skillet. Lodge makes good ones for cheap. And you too will be able to pass yours along to your grandson-in-law one day because they last forever. You can get a Griswold on ebay if you want to go old school.

Next on the list of essentials-the Dutch oven. Want to convert a cheap cut of meat into a succulent main course that melts in your mouth? Then you need to master the art of braising. If it weren't for braising we'd be in trouble these days while we're getting by on a student loan budget. Braising is essentially simmering something in a little liquid of some sort (which usually ends up becoming a sauce) for a long time until collagen breaks down and the target food gets tender. Pot roast comes to mind, but there is so much more. Do yourself a favor and get Molly Steven's All About Braising. I've made many of the recipes in that book, and they've all been home runs. The big difference between a Dutch oven and a slow cooker is the fact that you can sear meats and caramelize onions in a Dutch oven, and a slow cooker just slow cooks.

Pictured below are three of my favorites. Up first is my go-to pot. It's just the right size (4 quarts?) for the two of us, and, hey, I like the color too. It's a Staub:
Next up, another favorite- the Le Creuset. If you watch the Food Network at all you've seen one of these. Le Creuset is the most famous Dutch (they say "French" because they're, um, French. Whatever.) oven on the planet among the foody crowd. And again, I like the color. This one is 5.5 quarts. I think.
I saved Old Faithful for last. This Lodge Dutch oven is the stuff of cowboy legend. If I had to live on the trail this would be my pot of choice. The only drawback to the non-enameled cast iron is the fact that acidic foods like tomatoes and wine can taste a little metallic if left in the pot too long. I love cooking potatoes in this bad boy. I get them crispy on the outside and then steam them a little with the lid on. Speaking of lids- both the Staub and the Lodge lids have convex dimples that redirect the condensation back onto the food, which acts as a self-basting mechanism.
Now that I've done some frying in the Lodge , she has a good non-stick surface. Makes those taters really easy to make. I love black, shiny surfaces.I've gotta go make some taters now, so I'll stop here.
Next post: Knives!