Shrimp Tikka Masala

Shrimp Tikka Masala - http://www.seriouseats.com - Photograph: Blake Royer

Shrimp Tikka Masala

- serves 4 -

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, January 2010.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons neutral oil or clarified butter (ghee)
1 large onion
3 tablespoons grated ginger
1 tablespoon grated garlic
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup water
20 medium-to-large shrimp
1/4 cup plain yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooked rice for serving

1. In a heavy pot such as a dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook gently until golden, about 20 minutes, then add the ginger, garlic, tomato paste, chili powder, and garam masala. Add a little oil if necessary to allow the ingredients to blend into a thick-yet-runny consistency, and cook until the flavors have begun to marry and are very fragrant, 3-4 minutes.

2. Add the water and stir until the mixture is smooth, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp and cook gently over medium heat until they are just cooked through, about 4 minutes.

3. Remove from the heat and stir in the yogurt quickly. Serve immediately with rice.

Recipe Credit: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/01/dinner-tonight-shrimp-tikka-masala-recipe.html

Smoking my first Pork Shoulder

Tonite is the first time I’ll be smoking a pork shoulder (butt) and only the second time the Bradley Smoker has been fired up.  Here is the step by step of what I did… this is my first time.  Might be tough tonite, as the low temperature here in MN is going to be just below zero.  A post on the Bradley Smoker forums really gave me a great high level overview of what to do. There are other posts in more detail, but I used this to get going.

I will update this post over the course of the smoke (approx 18 hours)

• Purchased two Pork Shoulders -total of 14 lbs from Village Meats in Wayzata, Mn.

• 7 PM – Place the meat on a cookie sheet, cover with your favorite rub. Tonight I’m using Wee Willy’s Porkie Pal, let it rest and warm up from fridge temp. for an hour or so

• Turn on the Bradley Smoker on High, place the trays, water bowl (3/4 full with hot water) and let it warm up for 30-45 minutes.

• It’s 9PM – Place the pork in on the bottom two racks, smallest one on top. Insert a remote digital thermometer to monitor the internal temperature (IT) – We are shooting for 190-205 final temperature - prob. ~18 hours from now.  I’m using Apple Wood bisquettes and will give 4 hours of smoke.  The vent on top is about 25% open.

• Check the temp. of the smoker at about 10, then time for some sleep, back at 1. At 1AM (after 4 hours of smoke), check the meat, and refill the water bowl.  Notice the smoke coming out the top and the temp. reading of 117.

• UPDATE: 7:30 AM – The Bradley has been on all night long, suffering thru sub zero tempratures… but things are looking on track. The smaller shoulder has reached 154 degrees.  Time to swap the shelves and update the post.  Looking good, eh?

• UPDATE: 4PM – The shoulders are off. One came off a couple hours earlier than the other prob. due to the size difference and the way they were rotated in ths smoker. Here is the final meat (see the bone sticking out?) and initial pull of the meat. Gotta say it looks fantastic.  The dark spots are the bark (and man is that packed with flavor).

• The final result… Pulled pork sandwich (carolina style – with coleslaw on top) and cornbread. It was a crowd pleaser!

Couple of last notes… The Ryan family was over for dinner, and we had my favorite BBQ Sauce – Cowtown BBQ Sauce – the retail version of the sauce from Okalhoma Joe’s in Kansas City and my new favorite Cornbread from Trader Joe’s!  I won’t mention the rack of ribs that I fogot about in the smoker…

Oatmeal Bread – In 5 Minutes a day

I recieved Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day as a christmas present this past year and I love it. I heard about it on NPR (Splendid Table) and was instantly interested.

I ordered some of the basic supplies:

• Pizza Peel
• Williams Sanoma Baking Stone
• 6-Quart Square Food Container and Cover
• Oven Thermometer

I’ve made the French Bread, Broiche and Oatmeal Bread. The French bread is my favorite so far – its dead easy to make a baguette at home with this technique.

Last weekend the family got to enjoy a couple loaves of Oatmeal Bread from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. It ends up a little on the small side, but very tasty. I’m not sure yet if I have a mix problem, or if the bread is just small.

Back at it…

Changed a few things around:

• renamed the blog from gulpandchew.com to unfoodie.com – too many people choked on the name Gulp and Chew.
• Rehosted the blog from Rackspace Cloud to DreamHost.com so I can focus on the blog and not worry about being a sysadmin too.

Back at it…

Midwinter Grilling – Smoked Paprika is the trick!

It was a beautiful Minnesota Winter weekend, so what do we do but dig out the Weber grill and throw on some burgers. See that white stuff… thats about 1.5 feet of snow on the ground. It was a very nice change of pace and made us think of summer.   My usual burger recipie is always well received, and pretty simple.

• 2 or so pounds of ground beef (I prefer the 85% lean)
• Saute 1 large white or yellow onion in butter (and sometimes a little olive oil) until they are caramelized to your liking
• In medium bowl, combine beef, onion, a couple shakes of Cayenne, Paprika, salt, pepper and maybe some garlic powder.
• Grill until a hit of pink in the middle. Slice of cheddar on top.
• Don’t forget to butter and toast the bun

This time around, I used a smoked paprika, and I really think it helped enhance the charcoal grill / smokey flavor – they turned out great! They were cooked pretty well done (no pink left), but they always remain juicy thanks to the onion and butter.