Shrimp with Chipotle Mojo

 This is a Rick Bayless recipe named Mexico City Shrimp with Chopotle Mojo. We had it with Street Corn Pudding, a store bought cold crab salad and Mexican style rice.

Mexico City Shrimp with Chipotle Mojo 

Chef Rick Bayless roasts garlic in oil, then spikes it with chipotle and lime so the sauce is tangy, spicy, and smoky—terrific on sautéed shrimp.

By Rick Bayless Active Time: 30 mins  Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins  Yield: 6

Ingredients

2 heads garlic (about 26) peeled and crushed

1 1/2 C.  EVOO

Kosher salt

1/4 C. fresh lime juice

1 chipotle in adobo sauce, seeded & minced

2 lb. med.shrimp-shelled & deveined, tails left intact

Fresh ground pepper

Chopped cilantro for garnish

Lime wedges, for serving

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°. In a 4-cup ceramic baking dish, combine the crushed garlic and olive oil with a pinch of salt. Put the dish on a cookie sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, until the garlic is tender and just starting to brown. Stir in the lime juice and bake for about 15 minutes more, until the garlic is golden and very soft. Let the mixture cool slightly.
   
2. Pour the garlic and oil into a small saucepan. Using a fork, mash the garlic against the side of the pan and stir to incorporate the oil; the sauce may look like it has separated. Add the chipotle, season with salt and keep warm.
   
3. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the garlicky oil from the mojo until shimmering. Add half of the shrimp and a generous pinch each of salt and pepper and cook over moderately high heat, turning once, until golden and just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a platter. Repeat with 2 more tablespoons of the garlicky oil and the remaining shrimp. Top the shrimp with more garlic mojo and garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with lime wedges, passing the remaining garlic mojo at the table.
   Make Ahead:  Refrigerate the garlic mojo up to 1 week,  gently reheat  before using.Serve With  White rice or crusty bread. Suggested pairing with crisp  berry-inflected French rosé.

Street Corn Pudding serves 8-10

Ingredients Yield 8-10 servings

Nonstick cooking spray or butter or pan

1 large or 2 med. jalapeños 

1 (8.5 oz) box cornbread or corn muffin mix

1 (14.75 oz) can creamed corn, not drained

1 (14.75 oz) can whole kernel corn, rinsed

1/2 C. salted butter, melted, cooled

 2 T. sugar

2 large eggs, breaten

1 C. sour cream

1/4 C. milk

Crema, Tajim and crumbeld queso fresca for serving

Preparation

Heat oven to 350 º.  Coat 8’ baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Roast the Jalapeños on baking sheet until slightly tender, about 20 minutes. When cool enough to handle, cut stems off, discard seeds. Dice.

In a large bowl, mix together the cornbread mix, creamed corn, corn kernels, butter, sugar, eggs, sour cream, milk and diced jalapeños until combined. Don’t over-mix. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.

Bake until golden brown and gently set in the center, 55-65 minutes.

Top with the crema, Tajín and queso fresco. Serve hot.

Turkey in the smoker

 

This is my year to host the family Thanksgiving dinner so I thought I'd try some different ways to cook it.  When I only cook turkey once a year, by the time it comes around a year later, I have forgotten what I did to make it special... Come to think of it there hasn't been a really special turkey ever.  Once quite a while ago someone brought a smoked turkey to a potluck and I didn't like it.  Now after a few  years of doing my own smoking, I think I probably didn't like it because the person didn't know how to smoke properly. If he was like me, when I first started,  he thought any smoke is good smoke and the more the better.  If that is what happened, that is why it did not taste good to me.  So this year I'll practice a few ways so I'll be ready in November.  This one was was spatchcocked so it would cook faster and hopefully without any undercooked parts.  I took it out of the smoker at 157 º at the breast and let is coast up to 160º out of the smoker.  The dark meat was mostly 185 to 190 which is what dark turkey meat should be. Usually when it comes out whenever the pop-up timer signals, it usually means the white meat is dry and the dark meat is under cooked.  I mean its safely cooked but kind of icky.  This way the dark meat surrounded the white meat and cooked properly by the time the white meat in the middle was done and still juicy. 

So the look, feel and temperatures tell me that this one is going to be good.  When it cools down, i cut it up and we will have it for dinner.

Charlie liked these enough to ask for them again today.

 Cooked over charcoal on bamboo skewers. 

Grilled Chicken Shawarma Skewers    serves 6

For the white sauce:

1 C. plain Greek yogurt

1/3 C. mayo

1 T. fresh lemon juice

1 cl. garlic, minced

For the chicken:

1/3 C. olive oil 

1/4 C. fresh lemon juice

6 cl. garlic, minced

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground coriander

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. Salt & 1 tsp.Pepper

2 1/2 lb. chicken thighs, cut into 1-in pieces

Bamboo skewers soaked in water for 1 hour.

Prepare white sauce :  Combine all ingredients, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve

Prepare the chicken:  Combine all ingredients, add  chicken and stir to coat. Marinate 30 min. to 1 hour.

Oil grill or use grill mats.  Heat grill, skewer chicken tightly together. Grill, turning skewers every minute or so until cooked through, browned and starting to char in spots-9 to 10 minutes.  Serve with white sauce.

Chicken Shawarma

 

Cooked over charcoal on bamboo skewers. 

Grilled Chicken Shawarma Skewers    serves 6

For the white sauce:

1 C. plain Greek yogurt

1/3 C. mayo

1 T. fresh lemon juice

1 cl. garlic, minced

For the chicken:

1/3 C. olive oil 

1/4 C. fresh lemon juice

6 cl. garlic, minced

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground coriander

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. Salt & 1 tsp.Pepper

2 1/2 lb. chicken thighs, cut into 1-in pieces

Bamboo skewers soaked in water for 1 hour.

Prepare white sauce :  Combine all ingredients, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve

Prepare the chicken:  Combine all ingredients, add  chicken and stir to coat. Marinate 30 min. to 1 hour.

Oil grill or use grill mats.  Heat grill, skewer chicken tightly together. Grill, turning skewers every minute or so until cooked through, browned and starting to char in spots-9 to 10 minutes.  Serve with white sauce.

Smoked Ribs

 

Competition Ribs from Cool Smoke P.  97

1 C. Cool Smoke Rub

2 racks St. Louis cut spareribs, membrane removed

1 /2 C. apple juice in spray bottle

1 C. Cool smoke BBQ sauce Smoked Chili Powder

1/2 C. honey, divided 1/4 & 1/4

2 tsp. cider vinegar 1 C. smoked paprika

8 T (1 stick) butter, melted 4 T.+ 1 tsp. dried Greek oregano

1/4 C. packed light brown sugar 3 T + 1 tsp. ground cumin

3T +1 tsp. gran. garlic

Cool Smoke BBQ Sauce 3T+ 1 tsp. cayenne

2T. granulated onion

3 C. ketchup

1 C. packed dark brown sugar Cool Smoke Rub

3/4 C. white vinegar

1/4 C. Molasses 1/2 C. Turbino Sugar

3 T. Worcestershire sauce 1/4 C. smoked chili powder recipe above

1 T. smoked chili powder (p 50) 1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. kosher salt 1 T. + 1 tsp. granulated garlic

1 T. smoked paprika 1/4 C. +2 T. kosher salt

1 T. sweet paprika 2 T. + 2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. granulated onion 1T. + 1 tsp. cracked black pepper

2 tsp. granulated garlic 1T.+ 1 tsp. granulated onion

2tsp. cayenne

1 1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

2 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 C. apple cider vinegar

& 1/4 C. Honey

Sprinkle rub on ribs (1/4 C. peer side) Let sit 1 hour before putting in smoker.

Heat smoker to 275.  Smoke 2 hours, meat side up, spraying with apple juice every 30 min.  

Drizzle with  1 stick butter &1/4 C. honey & brown sugar. Wrap smoker to 203º to 211º  

Unwrap brush with cool smoke sauce & heat to set sauce 15 min. Watch closely to keep from burning or overset the sauce. Serve with sauce on the side.

BAKED BEANS 

2-55 cans PORK& BEANS  

3 TBS RUB SEASONING

1/2 C. FIRMLY PACKED BROWN SUGAR 

3/4 C. BBQ SAUCE

1/2 C. MOLASSAS  

When I make this, I use the brown sugar, BBQ sauce, Rub seasoning, and Molasses.  I put it in a jar and add it to the amount of beans I have -to taste-, refrigerate the rest until next time,  then place beans in a pyrex dish at the back or the smoker for a couple hours for the smoke flavor. Sometimes I add some of the cooking juice from the meat, and/or I'll chop up some of the meat I smoked and add it to the beans.

deep fried shrimp

 I am not a big fan of deep fried shrimp but several months ago I impulse bought a bag of Zatarain's shrimp fry and I had a package of shrimp in the freezer for several weeks and decided to use them up now.  My moms family live in the Ozarks and I have been to a lot of fish fries with catfish and hush puppies but I had never heard of fried shrimp until I was in my twenties and Arthur Treachers opened a  fast food fish and chips  store across the street.  That was the first time I had heard of fried shrimp.  Always before we had a New Orleans style boiled shrimp.  Charlie asked what I was going to serve wth them and I said I hadn't decided yet so he looked in the pantry and came up with corn and macaroni.