Review: Dr. Gonzo's "Free Range" Jalapenomash

One of the benefits of being a food blogger are the many products you get to try and write about. Some products you have used for some time and you love and want to share them with the world. Some come from the companies that create them and they're looking for your opinion and hopefully, the related exposure if you like their products. Other products come via family and friends who want you to try things they like or review their friends and families products. It's all good in the hood. As long as everyone knows: I don't lie in my reviews.

Case in point was my recent review of the Wicked Kickin Savory Cheesecake that my friend Matt Goulet brought over a while back - GOOD STUFF! Today's product for review similarly came from another friend. A week or so ago my long-time associate in rhythm and the absurd, Neil Foisy, turned up with several products from Dr. Gonzo's Uncommon Condiments that he was really excited about. He gave me the basic info, he told me his preferences and thoughts and then left me to my own designs. All he asked was that if I liked them that I please share them with my readers. That's probably not the exact language he used but the message and request were the same (Whaddup crackah!, I promised you I'd bang this wiki wiki out if it was all good and it was - BIG TIME!) I'll review the first product of Dr. Gonzo's that I tried today and enter subsequent reviews as I use and finish the rest and they meet my approval.

The first of the delectable delights from Dr. G's that I hit was the "Free Range Jalapenomash". Dr. G described this product thusly:

"Our "Free Range" Jalapenomash is an all-natural hot pepper relish… …using only the finest "Free Range" Jalapeno peppers procured in the great 2009 Jalapeno round up, this product comes in first with sweet flavor then hits you with delayed heat that dissipates quickly… … be warned, like all of our products, it just may be habit forming."

My take right off is that using the world "relish" in association with this product is kind of inaccurate. For me, relishes are always clunky and slightly syrupy affairs. I'm a fan of relishes but calling this "relish" puts one's mind in a state of anticipation that is misleading. My advice? Take that "peppermash" term and own it Dr. G. Take that term "peppermash" and define it, because you already have with me and let me tell you I am the only authority on the subject writing this sentence! Dr. G's Jalapenomash is a thing far apart from a relish. It is a peppermash (whatever that is). PEPPERMASH, understand?

I love jalapenos. Do you like jalapenos? If so, you're going to love Dr. Gonzo's Free Range Jalapenomash. It's jalapenoresplendent with jalapenoliciousness and that's no jalapenoxaggeration either! The first occasion I tried the stuff was the evening Neil was over. Neil hadn't told me what he was bringing but I had coincidentally prepared a Mexican fish and shrimp taco feast. So, my first bite of Dr. Gonzo's Free Range Jalapenomash came delivered on a very appropriate garlic-chipotle shrimp taco and let me tell you I was not disappointed! In fact I piled it on every taco I ate after that and I can eat a lot of shrimp or fish tacos, hombre!

What's to love about Dr. Gonzo's Free Range Jalapenomash? Right off, it's all-natural and easy to apply. This isn't a thick and chunky goop, it also isn't some pale, over-processed sluice spawn you haphazardly pour from a bottle. It is a fine mince of green peppery jalapenogoodness that is easy to spoon onto anything you care to (and my list is getting long!). Then there's the flavor, the distinct and wonderful SPICY flavor of JALAPENO PEPPERS. What make's Free Range Jalapenomash really good is that the spice and heat of the peppers have not been democratically dumbed down to cater to the docile and delicate palates of the average flavor and spice deprived denizen of the average American fast food counter or supermarket. You get that? Jalapenomash is NOT average. This stuff unapologetically kicks ass! Jalapenomash is spicy like God intended it to be and never lets you forget you wanted jalapeno!

Do I like it? I LOVE IT. Will I buy it? YES, I will buy it (or give Neil the money to buy it for me). There are products I like and that I buy occasionally and then there are products that I just have to have on hand because I like them so much. Dr. Gonzo's Free Range Jalapenomash is of the latter. I couldn't think of not having it around for when I prepare Mexican at home. Per Neil's instructions we also did a 50/50 mix of Jalapenomash and sour cream as a dip or taco dressing and that went astoundingly well. The flavor and burn of the jalapeno pepper in contrast to the slightly sour coolness of the cream was great! Even my wife, who can be a bit spice-shy when it comes to really spicy food enjoyed it while admitting it was hot. That's something! Hell, I'm already planning on adding Jalapenomash to my future Bloody Mary's and lots of other dishes as well. NO LIE!

Dr. Gonzo's Free Range Jalapenomash scores very high with me and if you're a fan of jalapeno flavor you need to get yourself some soon and you can do that by popping into Dr G's storefront at Dr. Gonzo's All-Natural Mega-Spicy Emporium, 122 Main St. Worcester, MA  01608 or you can order it online at: www.drgonzos.com

I've been hitting heavily on the good Dr.'s Black Fly mustard lately, more to come...

Recipe: Portuguese Chourico-Style Chicken and Chip Sandwiches

Back in a place called the 1980's I used to live in a quasi-housing project. A good friend of mine who shall remain nameless for his own dignity was living-in-sin with his then not-yet-wife in an adjacent building in the same housing area. Often on the weekends, he, his not-yet-wife, my not-yet-ex-wife and I would get together for dinners and the other absurdities that bored twenty-somethings do when they are low of funds because they are products of growing up in economically depressed circumstances. Some of these things the same people might find embarrassing today. Not me though, but I'm empathetic so I blur lines.

Anyway, round about near this quasi-housing project was a small Portuguese market that served as our corner store. Milk, bread the occasional box of cereal that kind of thing. They also sold some great Portuguese food including chourico rolls, malasadas and sweetbread. One of our favorite things to get there were seasoned pork cutlets called "chourico meat". This was pork that was marinated as if it was going to be ground and made into chourico, but instead, you pan fried it, topped it with cheese parked it in a pao secos and ate it as a sandwich. Good stuff under the worse circumstances, you add a few beers and some company and you've got a party!

I haven't had those sandwiches in about 30 years! So, recently, I've been making my own chourico and a few evenings ago I decided to make "chourico meat" using some chicken breasts that I had in the fridge. The result of course was delicious! Why else would you be reading about it at this moment, right? Now, I make these things pretty spicy because that's the way I like them. You can vary the ingredients less or more so as you desire.

Just promise you won't eat a few of these, drink too much beer and switch to tequila okay? Because my buddy did that, then I ended up saving his life by stopping him from falling into a newly excavated hole for the foundation for a building that "wasn't there yesterday" if you know what I mean? Also, don't bet two crazy women that you'll French kiss another guy for sixty bucks, because chicks never pay on bets!

On to this fabulously easy yet great recipe!

Portuguese Chourico-Style Chicken and Chip Sandwiches

3 lbs of boneless chicken breasts (sliced in half horizontally into cutlets)
1 cup of red wine
1 Tbs. colorau (or regular paprika)
1 Tbs. smoked sweet paprika (or regular paprika because you are obviously paprika deficient!)
1 Tbs. coarse sea salt
6 cloves of garlic (chopped)
3 Tbs. hot crushed pepper
2 cups of white wine or chicken broth
1/4 to a 1/2 cup of chopped parsley
Homemade, frozen or restaurant-bought french fries
Your favorite sandwich rolls (sliced)

In a large bowl add the chicken, wine, colorau, smoked sweet paprika, salt, garlic and hot crushed pepper and blend together well. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for 2 to 4 hours. Take out and redistribute the mix once or twice during that time.

Have your french fries ready.

Place a large pan over medium high heat. Add the olive oil. When the oil begins to shimmer add the chicken 2-3 cutlets at a time and cook turning once until just done. Remove and place in a covered bowl to keep warm while cooking the rest of the cutlets.

Continue cooking all the cutlets in the same manner, placing them in the covered bowl until they are done.

Raise the heat and take any remaining marinade and pour it into the pan with the white wine or chicken broth and deglaze the pan.

Reduce the resulting sauce until thick.

Lower the heat and add all the chicken and parsley to the pan with the sauce. Coat well until warm enough for serving.

Remove from heat. Make sandwiches by filling the sliced rolls with the chicken and a good amount of the french fries.

Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Creton (Pork Paté or Gorton)

For years I didn't know how to spell the title of the recipe below. Sure, I may have eaten it my entire life and even pronounced its French name near perfectly at a young age, but I never knew how to spell it. Apparently, neither did the commercial manufacturers of the stuff in my region. The closest they ever got was "gorton" which while kind of phonetic is wrong nonetheless. In fact I walked on God's green earth for about 40 years before I happened upon the correct spelling.

I was sitting in a popular Montreal breakfast diner one morning with several friends. Most were new to the city so those among us that had been before were helping with the items on the menu pointing out favorites, etc. Then someone came across "creton" and we were all stymied. We puzzled over it for a few moments and then took the next logical step and asked the waitress.

"What is this?" I asked pointing to the word in the menu.
"It is creton" she answered "a kind of pork paté."
"AH!" we all answered after hearing it in French. "We know creton!"

Creton (kind of sounds like "KrrrAW-tohn" or "GAH-taw") is a food most people with Quebecois parents or grandparents may remember growing up in my area. It is a mildly spiced pork paté spread that used to be popular and via nostalgia is gaining in popularity again. It is used at breakfast on toast and with mustard in sandwiches for lunch. Some people will use it with breadcrumbs to stuff a turkey and I'm sure there are other uses.

It's not healthfood by any stretch of the imaginaton, but it is much loved. In fact when I told my mother I had begun experimenting with it she was quite pleased. "I remember my mother's creton." she said, "It was so good on toast for breakfast."

Mom got her much loved creton on toast the very next morning. It's good stuff and simple to make. If you like French meat pies or devilled ham, give it a shot. I prefer mine on bread with mustard. It's damn yummy and makes me feel like I'm 9 years old again, running into my parents apartment to wolf down a sandwich before rejoining my friends outside.

Creton

1 pound ground pork
2 Tbs bacon fat
1 medium onion chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
beef stock or whole milk

Place an appropriately-sized sauce pan over medium heat.

When pan is hot, add 1 Tbs bacon fat and gently fry the ground pork until cooked through. While the pork cooks use a fork to keep crumbling it.

Add the onion, garlic, spices, salt and pepper and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions and garlic are soft and translucent.

Lower the heat to a low simmer and continue to cook for about an hour.

If mixture starts to dry out add beef stock or milk to keep it at a very-thick-sauce consistency.

Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool.

If needed add beef stock or whole milk so the mixture seems just spreadable.

Put the mixture in a food processor and process until fine and granular but not pasty.

Place the mixture into a glass or ceramic container and add a small layer of bacon fat over the top to seal and add extra flavor.

Refrigerate until needed. Serve on crackers as a snack, toast for a hearty breakfast or with mustard as a sandwich for lunch.

Recipe: Pimenta Salgada (Portuguese Salted Peppers)

Pimenta salgada are the lynch pin in Portuguese-style steak sandwiches and other dishes. For me and many others, if they are not in there, you're just having a mildly spicy steak sandwich that you can get anywhere. They have a salty and unique flavor that makes the dish what it is. Because of that unique flavor I also use them in several other Portuguese recipes and I am sure they will infiltrate more.

Here in the good old South Coast of Massachusetts city of Fall River, we have a large Azorean-Portuguese community. It is so large in fact that many Azoreans consider Fall River to be the tenth island in the Azores chain! Because of that large Portuguese population we have immediate access to a great deal of good Portuguese food and ingredients. From staples like the spicy chourico and linguica sausages and bolos levedos sweet buns to more exotic things like fresh Azorean seafoods and hard-to-find spices.

One of the harder to find items is pimenta salgada. You won't find it in most local grocers. Only the most "Portuguese" of the Portuguese stores carry it. I don't think that is because it is rare or unpopular but instead, I think it is because most people who use it in their cooking prefer to make it themselves. One of those people is my friend Karen (family name: Lima) who learned how to make it from her mother. When I asked her for instructions on how to prepare it she didn't hesitate to offer them up.

So, for my friends from far away who may or may not have have had Portuguese food, or better yet: Portuguese-style steak sandwiches, and who want to create them at home using my recipes and others, you are now just a short process and fourteen days away from being able to do it in your own kitchens! I have other great recipes that use these unique peppers coming in the near future. Thank you Karen for your generosity!

Pimenta Salgada (Portuguese Salted Peppers)

Red Finger Peppers (hot or sweet peppers 6" to 8" long)
Coarse Sea Salt
A suitably large and deep, lidded glass or ceramic container (red ceramic is traditional).

Carefully wash all the peppers and blot them dry.

Cut off the top of pepper, be careful not to remove the seeds.*

Fill each pepper with sea salt and carefully layer them in the glass/ceramic container.

As you complete each layer of peppers, place a layer of salt over it before starting a new layer.

Continue until you fill the container or run out of peppers.

Cover and place in a cool dark place.

The pimenta salgada are typically ready in about 2 weeks.

You can expect the peppers to give up a great deal of their moisture and it may eventually cover the peppers, this is normal. It is also normal for pimenta salgada to darken and soften over time. It requires no refrigeration.

*There is an alternative method in which you halve and deseed each pepper. Then you layer them in the container and cover each layer with salt. I've used them both ways.

Recipe: Academica/Caravela-Style Portuguese Steak Sandwiches 2010

Way back in November of 2008, I posted the first recipe for Portuguese-style steak sandwiches on Chop Onions, Boil Water. In that entry I recounted my first experiences with that type of sandwich at a Fall River, Massachusetts restaurant called "The Academica". I went on to explain how my friend Dave Leboeuf had, observed how the locally-famous (now internationally famous, right Kiwis?) sandwiches were made, and how he tinkered in his home kitchen until he came up with a good version. I took his version and tuned it to my personal tastes (admittedly, not much tuning needed thanks to Dave's work) and created my own recipe. This all took place a year or two before I ever posted the recipe online. If you're interested in that Portuguese steak sandwich recipe, just click here.

Since that time, the Portuguese steak sandwich situation in Fall River, Massachusetts has gotten a little "complex". It seems that a while back the cooks at the Academica restaurant decided to open their own place and did so, right on the side of the Academica! They named their new restaurant "The Caravela Family Restaurant" and proceeded to create the same sandwiches and other dishes that they did at the Academica. Today, each place has its adherents and I'm sure they have good personal reasons for which restaurant they patronize. I have my favorite and that's where I take my out-of-town guests and they love it too. Hell, I've even heard there may have been a split at the Caravela and there could be a third contender for the best Portuguese-style steak sandwich in Fall River, Massachusetts.

Why a new recipe you ask? Because, as good as the original one was, it was never perfect. Something about it was always just a little less than authentic and that sent me to thinking about it.

Now, Dave had seen the whole process, he'd seen the ingredients, so why couldn't we absolutely nail it in our home kitchens? I talked to him about it a couple of times and we came to the conclusion that it must have something to do with the repeated cooking. The Academica and the Caravela produce hundreds of steak sandwiches everyday. We figured that the remnants of each steak: the juices, garlic and seasonings are allowed to collect and simmer on that grill over the course of the day, and that somehow effects the final flavor of the steak. In the end this ended up being easy to test because Dave is the president of a social organization and he often cooks some of their large dinners. For a few of those dinners, he decided to create his version of Academica sandwiches and he confirmed that the steaks that came off the stove later in the night tasted more authentic than the ones that were prepared earlier.

After some thought about Dave's experiences I created a work around to avoid having to prepare hundreds of steaks for hours to get the right flavor. I discovered that if you slowly cook some of the ingredients in a separate pan before you cook your steak you be able to recreate what happens on the stoves of these restaurants. It takes a little time, but it is easy and makes a huge difference in the flavor.

Another thing I noticed about the Academica and the Caravela's steak sandwiches were the peppers that came inside each one. They were denser, saltier and not nearly as juicy as the ordinary pickled peppers available in the market. I searched the local markets for similar peppers and tried a variety of them and while the resulting sandwiches were always good, the peppers were never really right. Finally, I asked my Azorean friend Sandy to call her mom and describe the peppers that were in the Portuguese sandwiches. Her mother recognized the description and informed us that they were called "Pimenta Salgada" (salted peppers), she also directed me to the local markets where I could find them. I did find them, and PRESTO they were the real deal. Props to her mom as well because she also gave me a generous amount of them after I had inquired.

The resulting steak sandwiches were, and still are the best that have come out of my home. My wife, who is as big a fan of Portuguese-style steak sandwiches as anyone has pronounced them as better than either restaurant. Yeah, I know... my mom says I'm very handsome as well.

Academica/Caravela-Style Portuguese Steak Sandwiches 2010

2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs butter
1 head of garlic (all cloves picked off, peeled and lightly crushed)
Frank's Hot Sauce® or Texas Pete's Hot Sauce®
Steak, not too thick, cubed steak works well. It should be 1/4" to 3/8" thick.
1 cup of dry white wine or beef broth
Stick-style sandwich bread
Pimenta Salgada (Portuguese salted peppers)*
Salt to taste

In a small saucepan or skillet, add 1 Tbs olive oil, butter and a splash of the hot sauce. Place it over a low flame, when the butter is done foaming add all the garlic and allow it to cook SLOWLY until the garlic darkens, softens and just begins to caramelize. Be sure not to burn the mix. I usually start this part of the recipe an hour before I begin cooking the steak. Go LOW with the heat and SLOW with the cooking and you'll be fine.

Season each steak and then tenderize the meat using grid side of a tenderizing hammer. Just a quick going over, don't mash it into goo!

When you notice the oil, butter and garlic mixture close to finishing, preheat a large, deep skillet over a medium-high flame.

Add the remaining olive oil, when it begins to shimmer, add the steaks one to two at a time to the pan.

Brush on a little hot sauce to the top of steaks while cooking.

When steaks are nicely browned on one side, turn them over, brush on a little more hot sauce and cook until browned on both sides.

As each steak finishes cooking, remove it to a covered plate to keep it warm while you continue cooking the others.

When all the steaks are done cooling, raise the heat to high. When pan is hot, add the wine/beef broth and deglaze the pan by scraping it with a wooden spoon while the wine or broth simmers.

Add the garlic, oil, butter mixture to the simmering sauce and continue simmering until sauce becomes thick.

Remove from heat, add the steaks and any drippings to the sauce being sure that each steak is well-coated. Cover the pan to keep steaks and sauce warm while you prepare the sandwiches.

Slice the bread, add the sauce soaked steak, be sure to get some garlic in there. Top with a slice or two of pimenta salgada and serve with french fries.

*Pimenta salgada can be purchased at Portuguese grocery and specialty shops. They are very salty, you may want to rinse them in fresh water or soak them in water during the cooking time to cut the saltiness. If you don't have them in your area don't worry, I'll be posting a recipe for making your own in the next few days.

Recipe: Fall River Style Boneless Buffalo Wings

When you think about it, buffalo wings have become a phenomenon. If my sources are correct, they were first served by Teressa and Frank Bellissimo at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York on October 3rd, 1964. Since that historic and important date time they have spread internationally and spawned thousands of regional variations.

My favorite regional variation is from my hometown. Unlike more complex versions the local one is simple, as it calls for just one extra ingredient. It differs most from the original Buffalo Wings in that it isn't a chicken wing or drumstick at all but rather it is made from chicken tenders or slices of chicken breast.

This recipe was among my favorites at a restaurant I used to visit almost every night. In fact I met my wife there and made many friends during the time I spent there. Things change however, and that restaurant has faded into history. Its former glory now only a memory for the patrons that used to love it.

Now, if you read all my little stories above the recipes you're in for a special bonus treat here. My friend Sandy used to bartend at this same restaurant and one night when I was ordering the boneless wings, she insisted that I add some barbecue sauce to the prepared dish and then wrap the whole thing up in a tortilla. Well I did and it was great and it became one of my favorite sandwiches/wraps for a few years. If you try it I think you'll enjoy it as well! The schlubs who don't read these stories will never know that! So to honor it's creator I will call this recipe "Sandy's Super-Secret Boneless Barbecued Buffalo Wing Wrap." Try it, you'll like it.

Fall River Style Boneless Buffalo Wings

1/2 cup of Frank's Red Hot© Sauce
1/3 cup butter
1/8 lb. salt pork
1-2 lbs of chicken tenders or breast strips
Clam fry batter
Celery sticks
Carrot sticks
Your favorite bleu cheese salad dressing

Combine the Frank's Red Hot© Sauce, salt pork and butter in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until salt pork is well rendered. Set heat to low to keep sauce warm while you prepare the chicken.

Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 375°F.

Dredge chicken tenders in clam fry batter and deep fry until done.

Drain the chicken of excess oil and then toss it in the hot sauce mixture until well coated.

Plate it and serve with the celery sticks, carrot sticks and bleu cheese dressing.

Crack open an ice cold beer and enjoy!

Recipe: Fall River Style Boneless Buffalo Wings from Chop Onions, Boil Water - World Food at Home by Henry Krauzyk
http://www.choponionsboilwater.com

Cookbook Review: Vineyard Harvest by Tina Miller

As far as the Massachusetts Islands go, there are generally two kinds of people: Martha's Vineyard people and Nantucket people. I am a Nantucket person. There is magic for me there, and it's where I can relax. It's difficult for me to explain why, but mostly it has to do with the island's light, small size and general quiet compared to her larger sister. Not that Nantucket doesn't get busy, just that it's never as busy as Martha's Vineyard.

Preferring one over the other also doesn't mean I don't visit nor enjoy Martha's Vineyard, I do. There's a lot to experience and see there, and certainly plenty of good food. That's one of the reasons I initially purchased "Vineyard Harvest" by island Chef Tina Miller.

Featuring more than one hundred recipes that span a "year of good food on Martha's Vineyard" and colorfully splashed with the photography of Vineyard native Alison Shaw, Vineyard Harvest is an excellent and beautiful cookbook. It's well written and the background information really gives the reader a sense of the island, its people and the local flavor and cuisine. There's plenty of information regarding a host of details including a detailed explanation of Chef Tina Miller's favorite ingredients and kitchen implements. Something I found both insightful and uselful.

The recipes are excellent and their presentation and explanation will get anyone through most dishes. Of particular interest and influence to me were the recipes for "Vineyard Bouillabaisse", "Succotash Chowder", "Road House Gingerbread with Dark Rum Sauce" and several others. The bouillabaisse recipe alone has taken me in a few directions and is the basis for several recent and favorite personal recipes.

Vineyard Harvest is one of those cookbooks that transcends its genre and becomes something a little more than a cookbook. It is a unique look at the people, places and beauty that are Martha's Vineyard and it tells its story around a common thread of good people, native ingredients and great food. Nice job Chef Tina Miller! Fantastic photos Alison Shaw!

Cookbook Review: Vineyard Harvest by Tina Miller