Tapioca Pudding, Chipotle BBQ Sauce, and Chipotle Spice Rub

Last week I was ordering some new spices from my favorite spice company Atlantic Spice Co. I know, I know... everyone's favorite online spice company is now Penzey's, but Atlantic Spice (and their sister company San Francisco Herb Co.) is still my store of choice.

I had seen a few recipes lately calling for cardamom and coriander. The prices in grocery stores for spices are ludicrous and there was just no way I was spending $11.99 for a thimble full of cardamom powder! Also, I wanted to refill my smoked paprika and wanted some chipotle powder. Atlantic Spice does have a minimum $25.00 shipping order, so when I calculated my total - $22.50 - I went back to see if there was something else I couldn't live without. I found a pound of pearl tapioca for $3.70/pound.

Homemade tapioca pudding has always been a favorite dessert - and one that I have seldom made. I had a recipe that had been sitting around forever, so when the packager arrived Tuesday, I was set to go! I'm actually not sure who the recipe is from - it's handwritten on a scrap of paper... but it's old...

A small summer storm came through the area, knocking out our power for 33 hours, so the pudding was put on hold until yesterday. And boy, was it worth the wait!

Rich, creamy, decadent! Better than anything one could buy.....

20060721-tap1

Tapioca Pudding

  • 1 cup tapioca
  • 4 c cream
  • 2 c milk
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1 c sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Soak tapioca in water about 4 hours. Add cream, milk and salt. Heat and stir until boiling. Simmer, uncovered, about 45 minutes, stirring frequently. Add sugar gradually. Beat yolks. temper with some of hot tapioca. Mix into rest of mixture. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Add vanilla.

Simple directions... One thing to note is this is for pearl tapioca - not "instant." And it does take about an hour to make. (I set the timer for 10 minute intervals to come in and stir...) And when it was done, I put it into a bowl and placed plastic wrap directly on the pudding to keep a skin from forming. The recipe could easily be halved - but that would mean only half as much pudding for the same amount of work!

I was on a bit of a roll... No power for 33 hours made me want to get into the kitchen, I guess (not that I ever seem to want to get OUT of the kitchen, mind you!) So it was time to also make Chipotle BBQ Sauce! (It's not unusual for me to have simultaneous pots bubbling on the stove!)

20060721-chipo2

Chipotle BBQ Sauce

  • 2 cups catsup - organic, of course! No high fructose corn syrup!!
  • 1 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 4 tablespoons chipotle powder
  • 2 tablespoons dry mustard
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder

Mix all ingrdients in a saucepan and simmer about 15 minutes. It is kick-a-poo GREAT!

And I had to make a Chipotle Spice Rub because... well... I have all the ingredients!!

20060721-chipo1

Chipotle Spice Rub

  • 1 1/2 cups kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup dried oregano
  • 1/4 cup chipotle powder
  • 1/4 cup smoked paprika
  • 1/4 cup powdered garlic

Mix everything in a food processor until powdery. That's it!

Last night, I used the powder on pork chops and then grilled them. They were most excellent! I made white rice to which I added a few tablespoons of hot fresh salsa, and had fresh corn on the cob on the side... And with warm tapioca pudding for dessert, it was gastronomic heaven!

Now... to find those recipes calling for cardamom.....


Clemen's Market, Italian Sausage, and Polenta

20060715-h-logo

This past Thursday found me getting a picture taken for my new driver license. I can't believe we've been here over 5 years already! The renewal process is a bit strange in Pennsylvania. One can renew a license at an "Auto Tag" store or online. I chose the online option, only to find out that I still had to go to the Photo Licensing Center to have my picture taken! So much for efficiency!

The center is in a strip mall in Frazer, about 15 miles from us down Rt 30 - Lancaster Avenue. I was in and out in about 10 minutes, and noticed a Clemen's Family Market in the center. I have heard of Clemen's, but had never been in one...

I'm not quite sure what the hype is all about, because i don't think I'll be making the trek back there again too soon! The store was nice enough, I guess, but walking in, it was dark. Really dark. With a brown open, exposed ceiling and low lights - and flowers abounding, it was decidedly cave-like walking in. Not unwelcoming, but not welcoming, either.

The first area I walked by was the in-store bakery. Some great looking products in cases, a plethora of donuts and bagels, lots of freshly baked breads and bagged rolls, and a stand-alone display of different sandwich rolls. Rolls with no price. I looked and looked, walked up and down, checked some more. No price. No posted price for me means an automatic no purchase. i walked over to the produce section.

It was colorful and the produce was nicely displayed. Pricey, too. I had done my major weekly shopping the day before, so really didn't need any more fresh stuff, anyway. I started walking the aisles.

One of my more favorite things to do is walk the aisles of a quiet grocery store. I love walking by products and 1) mocking them for their partially hydrogenated, overly processed, mass-consumerism, or 2) stopping and finding new and unique products hiding amongst the mass-produced junk. What i found strange about this store was how disjointed the aisles were. Walking down an aisle, out of the blue, would be shelves full of items totally unrelated to anything else in the aisle! In my way of thinking, items should at the very least compliment one another in an area. Finding vinegar with the cereal is not my idea of efficient cross-merchandizing!

I walked by the deli counter twice, and kept seeing the guy back there - with his plastic gloves on - scratching, fiddling with his hat... My third trip by, I saw a different guy pulling on fresh gloves. I ordered some sliced ham and sliced cheese. He changed his gloves when he finished.

I made it over t the meat department and did find a huge box of Italian Sausage on sale, or rather "discounted 50%" with my Clemen's card. I picked one up. I grabbed a couple more items - some red wine vinegar I keep forgetting to buy, a loaf of Italian Bread (the only one that didn't have high fructose corn syrup in it!) and made my way up to the cashier - a very helpful older gentleman who ran over to the customer service desk for me to get my discount card application.

He was actually the best thing in the store! He explained the card to me, told me about other places it is good, showed me the 'extra $5.00 off" discounts for spending $40.00. And he thanked me for bagging my own groceries.

As I said, it wasn't a bad experience, but it wasn't a great one, either. And since the store is definitely out of the way for me, I'd have to make an effort to go there - and it just didn't seem like it would be worth that effort.

Which brings me to dinner tonight! I cooked up a bit of the Italian Sausage - and it was very good!

20060715-saus1

I was feeling a tad lazy today! We had taken the puppy to the dog park, and got home just before the latest torrential downpour hit! (We actually received 2" of rain in less than an hour!) It was cool in the house, so, looking into the well-stocked 'fridge and finding most of an onion and most of a bell pepper all nicely wrapped, a pound of mushrooms - and my package of sausage - a bit of a sausage fry was in order! And... with a bag of polenta in the cupboard, a sausage fry over creamy polenta was definitely the ticket!

I sliced up 8 chunks of sausage, and sliced the onion and pepper into strips. Threw them into a skillet with a handful of sliced mushrooms, a splash of olive oil and some fresh garlic. When everything was nicely browned, I added a can of diced tomatoes and a bunch of fresh basil from the garden and let it simmer.

Meanwhile, I made the polenta. 2 cups of milk, a pinch of salt, and 1/2 cup of polenta. i cooked it, stirring now and again, and then added a tbsp of butter and a handful of shredded cheese.

Into the bowl it went, with the sausage and peppers on top. A healthy grating of Locatelli on top, and it was a yummy dinner!

20060715-saus2


Phoebe's Baked Beans

One could possibly surmise by the dearth of writings here lately, that I have given up on cooking and eating! Well… nothing could be farther from the truth! It’s just that we have been off to the west coast for friends-and-family gatherings, and trying to catch up on all the backlogged work from taking off for another 10 days. Stop eating and cooking!? Be serious!

We were out to Portland and Seattle, where we were wined and dined by family and friends, alike! Starting at my baby sister’s house, we had the most wonderful Chipotle baked beans one could imagine! They were so good, in fact, I made them the day we got back! It’s a really simple recipe using canned baked beans as the base. Purists can definitely start out with their own dried beans, but… these are GREAT as is!

Phoebe's Baked Beans
The original recipe comes from Cooking Light magazine. Phoebe made these at their housewarming "Open House" and nary a bite was left!

  • 1/2 cup minced shallots
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1/2 cup tomato puree (I use tomato paste - I never have puree in the house!)
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons molasses
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 chipotle chiles, canned in adobo sauce, seeded and chopped
  • 2 (28-ounce) cans baked beans

Preheat oven to 300°.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add shallots; sauté 4 minutes or until golden. Add cumin and garlic; sauté for 1 minute. Add tomato puree and oil, and cook for 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Add remaining ingredients (except beans.). Reduce heat; simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Combine beans and shallot mixture in a 2-quart baking dish. Bake at 300° for 1 hour or until thick and bubbly. (I cooked mine for about 2 hours. Phoebe cooked hers the day before and reheated. They taste better reheated or cooked longer, in my not so humble opinion!)

We met our friend Steph in Portland for lunch at Connor’s BBQ where the ribs were fall-off-the-bone fabulous! (Although, I must admit that it was the company that was the star that day!) Connor’s is the epitome of no-frills dining! Everything is served on or in disposables. One has to ask for utensils (plastic), napkins, whatever, but the service is friendly and the food is great! Dining is on picnic tables al fresco. We did a rack of ribs (served with sliced white Wonder Bread!) sides of macaroni and cheese, corn on the cob, and fresh lemonade. The bill for three was under $20.00.

We were then off to Seattle where we met two more friends BJ & Print, for an overnight visit! We headed out to the Seattle Zoo for an outdoor Indigo Girls Concert, and our girls packed a most fantabulous picnic dinner! Cheeses and salami, salads galore, chilled beverages, breads and crackers – and desserts! Again, the food was sublime, but the company stole the show! It’s amazing just how much better food tastes when you’re sharing it with good friends! The following morning they greeted us with a platter of various melons, homemade pancakes – with warm maple syrup - and a quality coffee that only Seattle can produce!

Back home, I’ve been on a bit of a chipotle kick! I can’t find chipotles in adobo at any of our local stores, so I brought back several cans – and have been using them a lot! I made a pretty good chipotle sauce the other night for a London broil, and then used it for a marinade with beef ribs and chicken thighs. Oh yum!

Now… I made this on the fly and didn’t write anything down, so I’ll never be able to reproduce it, exactly (the curse of being a cook who uses what’s in the house at the time and NEVER writes down measurements!) but a close approximation is:

Chipotle Sauce

  • 3 chipotles in adobo, chopped
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 1 chopped bell pepper
  • 2 cans diced tomatoes in juice
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ cup molasses
  • ½ cup vinegar
  • 1 can chopped green chiles
  • Salt and pepper

I cooked the onions and peppers, added the tomatoes and remaining ingredients, simmered for about an hour, hit it with an immersion blender, and simmered another 30 minutes, or so… Spicy and yummy!

Today I am contemplating making some homemade chicken sausage… Maybe…