'Nero Fiddles Hot Sauce

 We are about halfway through September and the garden is still throwing habanero peppers like it's mad at us. The Wife is making noises about giving some of them away, and that just won't do. So I decided to make a hot sauce recipe that uses two dozen peppers a batch. I did. This one is a real roller coaster ride. It's like a Saturday morning with a six-year old in the house. It starts off nice and pleasant and then all of a sudden all hell breaks loose. That's the best way I can describe it. More specifically, it's got a bright, slightly fruity taste. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. I could probably make some absolutely deadly hot-wings. Possibly add a few drops to a Bloody Mary. Maybe just drink it straight if I wanted to scream for a while. Basically a lovely flavor plays around in your mouth as you burn.

This recipe will yield 1-1/2 pints of sauce. If you own a Insta-Pot Ace blender, you can actually do everything but the canning step in the blender by running the puree program. 

Give it a spin and tell me what you think, as long as it's positive. As always, notes are in blue.

'Nero Fiddles Hot Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 dozen habanero peppers, stems removed (don't you even think about removing the seeds, you big baby)
• 2 red bell peppers, chopped
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup white tequila (if you don't do alcohol, just omit and split the difference between more vinegar and lime juice)

Directions

1. Put all the ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.
2. Pour contents of blender into a non-reactive pot. Heat to a simmer for about 10 minutes. 
3. Return to the blender (or use an immersion blender) to ensure everything is totally liquefied. 
4. If you're not going to can this sauce, you're done. 

   

   Fire in the hole!

5. If you are canning, fill three half pint jars to 1/4 inch headspace and secure lid and ring. Process in a boiling water bath for about 12-15 minutes. As always, review canning procedures at The National Center for Home Food Preservation to make sure you don't accidentally poison anyone. 

Good times!

Sweet and Spicy Shrimp

One of the thing's I've had to learn once I had a child was how to put meals together in a hurry. While I would love frozen pizzas and cold cereal on a regular basis, it is nice to have a meal made from scratch now and then. This particular meal came together because we discovered our Dollar General sells shrimp. Yup. Seriously. So we got some and went to work. Everything else I had on hand in the house. The whole thing came together in about half an hour. The Wife claimed it a winner. I felt it needed more heat and added some extra Sriracha. Either way it's a keeper. As I'll mention below, finding the specific preserves we used may be a challenge unless you make it yourself. Just find a store bought one you like and experiment! As always, notes are in blue.

Sweet and Spicy Shrimp

Ingredients

• 1 lb. medium frozen cooked peeled shrimp
• 1 13.5 ounce can coconut milk
• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon pineapple sage preserves (I totally understand many of you won't have this exact thing on hand. Feel free to substitute orange preserves or something like that. Then just add the sage)
• 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and shredded
• 1 8 ounce can of edamame, drained
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• salt and pepper
• cooked white rice for serving

Directions

1. Defrost shrimp in a large bowl of water. If the tails are still on, pinch them off (put the tails in a baggie and freeze them to use to make stock for something else)
2. Heat a large saucepan or wok over medium hot heat. Add oil. 
3. Add the onions and carrots and sautee for 3-5 minutes
4. Add the edamame and cook another 2-3 minutes
5. Add the preserves and mix until preserves are totally broken down into the vegetables. 
6. Add the milk and sriracha. Mix. Salt and pepper to taste.
7. Bring to a simmer and let simmer about 7-10 minutes. Do NOT let come to a boil. Stir often.
8. Add the shrimp stir to coat. Since the shrimp is pre-cooked, you'll only need to leave them in there a minute or two to warm up.
9. Serve over a bed of rice (though would be good over noodles, too)

Good Times!

Bacon and Lemon Herbed Turkey

     Nothing says Thanksgiving like a well-made turkey perfectly carved and served up on a fancy platter. One out of three isn't bad. I can give you well-made. The rest is up to you. I know many people love that crispy golden skin on a turkey. I don't really care about that. For me, the skin is there to help store all sorts of good things to flavor the meat. I've messed around with a couple versions of this type of turkey, but I feel this is the final iteration. I am very pleased. The meat is suspiciously tender and is infused with hints of lemon, bacon and herbs. This, my dear friends, is a winner. As always, any notes are in blue.

Bacon and Lemon Herbed Turkey

Ingredients

• 1 turkey (we used a 13 pound bird for this recipe)
• 1 pound thick cut bacon (use whatever kind you want. Applewood smoked, hickory, whatever)
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced
• 2 sticks butter, separated
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram, rosemary and sage)
• 1 large onion, quartered
• Uncle Joe's Rub Down

Directions

1. Make sure the bird is defrosted and all the fun stuff is removed from inside. (I'll normally throw those spare parts in the roaster with the bird and serve them to the dogs later. I'll save the neck to throw at the unruly neighborhood children)
2. Take your hand and slide it between the skin and the meat of the bird. Gently work your hand around to separate the skin from the meat the best you can without tearing the skin. (This whole process feels genuinely wrong. I always apologize to the bird when I do this)

   

   I know we've only just met...

3. Mix one of the sticks of butter with the herbs until the herbs are evenly distributed through the butter. Start grabbing handfuls and get your hand back in under the skin. Spread the butter around under the skin the best you can. 
4. Gently lift the skin and lay the lemon slices between the meat and skin. Do the same with a quarter pound of the bacon (It's going to get crowded under the skin. Don't worry too much about having it be neat and tidy under there. The important part is to get it evenly distributed without tearing the skin)
5. Take the other stick of butter and the onion and put it in the cavity of the bird.
6. Shake a coat of Uncle Joe's Rub Down over the skin of the bird (feel free to use any rub or seasoning mix you like. I'm just partial to this stuff)
7. Take the remaining bacon and use it to cover the bird (I absolutely can't be bothered to make a bacon weave)

   

   See? No weave and it looks fine. I can't be bothered with frippery.

8. Load the bird into a roaster and cover it with a tinfoil tent (if you have time, feel free to make yourself a hat to block government mind-control rays. It never hurts to be careful)
9. Load the bird into an oven preheated to 325F. Cook until a meat thermometer reads an internal temperature of 165F (This took about 4 hours for our bird. It may take more or less time depending on your stove, size of the bird, altitude, relative humidity, astrological sign, etc. You could always use the old trick of seeing if the leg just pulls off. That usually means the turkey is done. Or has leprosy. It's not an exact science)
10. Once the bird has reached the required temperature, take it out and let it rest for 15 minutes or so (You've already violated it quite a bit. Give it a moment or two before you attack it with the knife. This is a good time to make sure everything else for your meal is done, or to have a cocktail or six)
11. Take the bacon off the top of the bird and set it aside for later snacking. Pull the skin off the bird and clear off the remaining bacon and lemon from under the skin. (Do not be alarmed when you see that you do not have a golden, crisp skin. It's going to be pretty squishy. Just pull it off. You want to get at the now tender and delicious meat).
12. Inexpertly maul the turkey and throw the meat on a platter. Eat until sleepy.

Good times!

Rustic Round Herb Bread

     I've got another bread recipe for you today, and you shouldn't be surprised at all when I tell you it came from Taste of Home Everyday Light Meals. Eventually I'm going to go through all the baking recipes and I'll be screwed. I'll have to start looking elsewhere for new and exciting breads to make on Sundays. This particular bread was a lot less time intensive since there is no rising to be done. As always any notes or changes are in blue.

Rustic Round Herb Bread
via Taste of Home Everyday Light Meals

Ingredients

•  2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese (there's nothing really holding you back from picking a different cheese. I imagine Swiss would give a nice mellow taste.)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dill weed
• 3 tablespoons cold butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup fat-free milk (as always, I just used 2%)
• 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds (this is something I never have in the house. So little of what I cook actually calls for it, I never am willing to shell out the dough for a jar. I did, however have a jar of sesame seeds, so I substituted a little more than 1/2 teaspoon of those instead.)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the first nine ingredients; mix well. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs (nope, still haven't bought a pastry blender. Once again I went at it with a couple of butter knives.)
2. In another bowl, whisk the egg, yogurt and milk. Stir into dry ingredients until just moistened (what they neglect to tell you is that the dough will be insanely sticky. You're going to need a scraper to get it all out of the bowl for the next step.)
3. Spoon into a 9" round backing pan coated with nonstick cooking spray (only coat the inside. Coating the outside would be wasteful and foolish.) Sprinkle with poppy seeds (or whatever has been substituted for poppy seeds. Or don't sprinkle anything over the top if you don't want. You're not going to hurt my feelings.)
4. Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown (mine took 30.) Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into wedges.

Good times!

Sweet Potatoes, Peppers, Onions and Sausage

     Every now and then the inspiration for a recipe comes from a single ingredient. That's what happened here. I had bought some Maple Honey Brats from Toohill Beef and they had been sitting in my freezer for a while. I didn't just want to grill them and call it a day. Toohill's stuff deserves a little more effort than that. It seemed a skillet was in order. I decided to go with the theme of the sweetness of the brats and go sweet for the overall theme. It came out wonderfully. The sweetness of the ingredients played well with the savory undertones of the brats. Basically, it tasted really good.

Sweet Potato, Pepper, Onion and Sausage

Ingredients

• 4 sweet potatoes, peeled
• 1 large, sweet onion, cut into 1" pieces
• 2 sweet red bell peppers, cut into 1" pieces
• 1lb. Toohill Maple Honey Brats (obviously, if you're not in Illinois, these may be a bit harder to get. In a pinch, you can substitute sweet Italian sausage)
• 1 teaspoon sage
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1. Cook the bratwurst however you want. Seriously, It doesn't really matter. Just don't boil them. That would be horrifying. (It was raining like crazy the day I made this, so I couldn't grill them. I wound up cooking them on a grill pan on the stove) Cut into about 1" pieces.
2. Parboil the potatoes. (time parboiling may vary. It took me about 10-12 minutes after dropping the potatoes into boiling water)
3. While the potatoes are parboiling, heat the oil in a skillet and all the peppers and onions. Saute for about 5-7 minutes on medium-high heat.
4. When the potatoes are done parboiling, remove them from the water and cut them up into 1-2" inch pieces. Toss them into the skillet and cook an additional 2-4 minutes depending on how big your potato pieces are. They should be approaching fork tender at this point. 
5. Add the cut up sausages. Cook another 2 minutes. Add sage and toss to coat evenly. (Cooking times are going to vary. What you're looking for is fork tender potatoes, and peppers and onions with a little bit of crunch. Obviously, the brats should be cooked well enough that you don't poison anyone. That's always critical. Good luck.)

Good times!