Monthly Archives: June 2018

Recipes

Nanacy Rajapakse’s Sri Lankan Dhal

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June 29, 2018

Who knew dhal could be so complicated?

I discovered dhal in college.  This was mostly during my junior year which provided an amazing, non-stop culinary experience as I lived in the International Residence Project at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dhal refers both to the main ingredient and to the preparation.  Let’s deal with the main ingredient for a bit.

I’ve typically thought of dhal as a synonym for the word “pulse” which, in common, everyday American English, we rarely use.  A pulse is the dried seed of a legume.  Think lentil, dried beans, chickpeas, and so forth.

So far so good.

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Usually, but not always, a dried legume only becomes dhal if it is split.  So, split red lentils (used in this dish) would be dhal but the whole ones would not.  In Indian cookery the word “gram” refers to the whole legume that, if split, would be “dhal.”

According to the Wikipedia entry on legumes, the “term ‘pulse,’ as used by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is reserved for crops harvested solely for the dry seed.  This excludes green beans and green peas, which are considered vegetable crops.”  Peruse any Indian cookbook however, and you’ll see the term dhal applied to dried split peas just as readily as it is to lentils, which are only harvested to be used dried (unlike peas).  So much for the distinction that the crop only be used for the dry seed.

I suppose one shouldn’t be surprised.  The names of different foods vary from region to region and usage is not necessarily consistent.

Split red lentils, referred to as Mysore dhal or a variant of the spelling

While there might be disagreements, need I say confusion, about what constitutes dhal, the dried (and maybe split) legume, the preparation of the dish itself is pretty straightforward.

To turn dhal into dhal, you boil it with flavoring ingredients such as aromatics and herbs and spices.  The resultant dish can have the consistency of porridge or soup or anything in between but it is clearly, and unmistakably, dhal.

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My initial introduction to dhal was Indian.  Channa dhal, a smaller relative of the chickpea (called channa in Hindi) looks pretty much like yellow split peas, which, by the way, are a very good substitute for channa dhal.  My introduction to dhal made from channa dhal (I know, it’s confusing) came initially from Maharaja, the first Indian restaurant in Philadelphia (circa 1972).  The restaurant was actually owned by the aunt of someone with whom I now work.  Small world.  Someone who, by the way, actually asked ME for some Indian recipes!!!

The introduction to dhal deepened after I met Ray Hugh at the end of sophomore year when we were introduced as roommates-to-be in the International Residence Project for our junior year at Penn.  We roomed together over the preceding summer.  We both cooked.  Ray is from Guyana and his cooking reflects the country’s ethnic heritage:  Indian, Chinese, African and Amerindian.

Ray made channa dhal.

Frank and I having a seafood-based meal with Nanacy Rajapakse (far right) in Sri Lanka, 2004

When I actually got into the International Residence Project at the beginning of junior year and tasted Nanacy Rajapakse’s Sri Lankan cooking, I was hooked.  It’s similar to Indian but actually more aromatic and possibly more delicately spiced, though often quite firey hot (which is a totally different characteristic from the non-chile herbs and spices that go into a dish).  For dhal, Sri Lankans typically use the small split red lentils called Mysore or Masoor dhal.  They cook up quickly.  The final consistency is more like porridge than soup.

Over the coming months, I’m going to post a number of Sri Lankan dishes.  If you’re culturally adventurous you might want to give them a try.  At the end of the series you’ll be able to pull together an entire meal that would satisfy anyone from Sri Lanka!

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 Nanacy Rajapakes's Sri Lankan Dhal
You can use more or less coconut milk to taste. I suggest ½ to 1 cup for this amount of dhal. An alternate way to serve this is to omit the coconut milk but add enough water to make a thick coarse puree. Top with some thinly sliced onions and cracked red pepper that have been fried in a little ghee or oil until crispy. Canned coconut milk varies tremendously in quality. Look for a brand that has few (or no) ingredients other than coconut and water. My go-to brand is Aroy-D. See the Notes section below. Dhal can be made ahead and refrigerated, tightly covered. Reheat gently before serving.
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Course Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Sides
Cuisine Sri Lankan
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Passive Time 3 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Sides
Cuisine Sri Lankan
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Passive Time 3 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Wash and drain the dhal. Cover with cold water and soak for approximately three hours at room temperature. Refrigerate if it will soak longer.
  2. When ready to cook the dhal, drain and rinse again.
  3. Add fresh water to cover the dhal by approximately ½ inch.
  4. Add all the other ingredients except the coconut milk
  5. Simmer, partially covered, till soft, approximately 20-30 minutes.
  6. Most of the water should be absorbed by this point. If not, boil quickly uncovered to evaporate the excess.
  7. Add coconut milk and salt to taste.
  8. Simmer gently until slightly thickened. Taste and adjust salt.
Recipe Notes

Aroy-D is an excellent choice if you are going to purchase, and not make, coconut milk.

Copyright © 2018 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Recipes

Risotto Friulano (Friuli-Style Risotto)

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June 25, 2018

If you do an internet search on Risotto Friulano you will turn up more entries for risotto con lo sclopit than any other.

Sclopit (bladder campion in English) is native to large parts of Europe and beyond.  It is not native to the United States but grows abundantly from coast to coast. Its botanical name is Silene vulgaris.

The leaves of Silene vulgaris (sclopit in Friulan; bladder campion in English) are used in risotto (photo by D. Gordon E. Robertson [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], from Wikimedia Commons)
In my husband’s family, however, Risotto Friulano refers to risotto that is made with Salsa Friulano, a traditional tomato sauce made with ground meat, herbs and spices.  I’ve published two recipes for Salsa Friulano.  One is my mother-in-law’s and the other is Ivana’s, the wife of my mother-in-law’s cousin Olvino.  (By the way, I asked my mother-in-law about sclopit.  She’s never heard of it!)

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My mother-in-law uses homemade chicken broth, and her Friulan tomato sauce for her Risotto Friulano.  Uncle Ray, her brother, uses canned beef broth instead of chicken broth.  Neither uses risotto rice, opting for long-grain rice, and neither really follows the common risotto technique of adding liquid slowly and allowing it to evaporate before the next addition.

We have long discussions about these differences.  While I don’t have a good explanation for the differences in technique other than cooking differences within their family, it’s my belief that the use of long-grain rice rather than short-grain “risotto” rice is a consequence of what was readily available when the family immigrated to the United States.

Sclopit leaves

I have a number of cookbooks from Friuli and all the recipes for risotto use what the Italians would call “riso per risotto,” rice for risotto.  It’s possible that this is a recent change in cooking habits in Friuli but I am more inclined to believe that the switch from risotto rice to long-grain rice happened in the United States, at least for my mother-in-law’s family.

Both my mother-in-law and Uncle Ray add enough liquid to their respective recipes for Risotto Friulano to make the final product pourable, like a traditional risotto.  Without the more starchy riso per risotto and the risotto technique, however, the result is not as creamy but still very good…and very traditional within the family.  Just ask my father-in-law, who is from Tuscany and not Friuli, whose Risotto Friulano he prefers!  (Hint, he’ll tell you mine tastes good, but…)

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The most common types of rice for risotto are Arborio, Carnaroli, and Vialone Nano.  Arborio is the easiest to find and it is what I use most of the time.  Carnaroli and Vialone Nano are even more forgiving than Arborio as they are harder to overcook.  They are more difficult to source in American markets, however.

Arborio Rice is generally the easiest “riso per risotto” (risotto rice) to find in the United States

When I make Risotto Friulano, I follow standard risotto technique and use short-grain Italian rice.  I hope you enjoy it!

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 Risotto Friulano (Friuli-Style Risotto)
My mother-in-law’s version of this is much simpler. She sautés long-grain rice in olive oil without any aromatics. She adds the sauce and then the broth. Broth is not added in small amounts but most of it is put in at once. Additional broth is added near the end If the rice can absorb it. Uncle Ray’s version is similar but with canned beef broth. Parmigiano is added at the end. If you’re going to make Marisa’s Mystical Meatballs, this is a wonderful use of the beef broth that will be created. See the Notes below for a link to the meatball recipe. If you are not using unsalted homemade broth, do not add salt as directed. Wait until the end and add salt to taste.
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Course Rice and Other Grains
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Rice and Other Grains
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Bring the broth and the Salsa Friulana to a bare simmer in separate pots.
  2. Heat a two or three quart heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil.
  3. Briefly sauté the onion in the oil. As the liquid from the onion evaporates and the onion just begins to turn translucent, reduce the heat to medium add the garlic.
  4. x
  5. Sauté on medium until the onion is translucent. Do not brown the onion or garlic. You may need to reduce the heat.
  6. When the onion is translucent, return the heat to medium high and add the rice.
  7. Sauté for 3-5 minutes, until the rice grains are partially translucent. Do not brown the rice.
  8. The outer portion of the rice grains will get translucent while the inside will stay opaque white.
  9. Add the wine.
  10. Stir frequently, but not constantly, until the wine has totally evaporated. You will begin to see some starch leaching out of the rice. More and more of the starch will leach out as you cook the rice. This is what will make a creamy sauce.
  11. When the wine has evaporated, add one ladle of simmering broth, approximately 1/3 cup, and the salt. Stir thoroughly paying particular attention to loosening any spots where the starch seems to be sticking to the bottom of the pan. You don’t want to brown (or worse yet, burn) the starch.
  12. Cook, stirring frequently but not constantly, until the broth has evaporated.
  13. Keep repeating the process with 1/3 cup of broth, cooking, stirring, loosening any spots that are sticking, and allowing the liquid to evaporate, until you have used approximately 5 cups of the broth. The heat should stay as close as possible to medium high. The moderate boiling of the liquid will coax starch out of the rice to create the creaminess that is the hallmark of a good risotto.
  14. Add 1 ½ cups of Salsa Friulana and cook until some of the liquid has evaporated. It will not be possible to cook the rice until dry once the sauce is added.
  15. Season with black pepper to taste.
  16. Continue adding broth, one ladle at a time, until the rice is cooked and creamy but still al dente at the very center.
  17. Remove the rice from the heat. Stir in the Parmesan cheese then the remaining ½ cup of Salsa Friulana.
  18. Still off the heat, add hot broth, a little at a time, to create a creamy, pourable risotto, adding only as much as the starchy liquid in the risotto will absorb.
  19. Taste and adjust seasoning.
  20. Serve immediately. Pass additional Parmesan cheese at the table.
Recipe Notes

This is where you’ll find the recipe for Marisa’s Mystical Meatballs.

You can find my mother-in-law’s recipe for Salsa Friulana here and Ivana’s recipe here.

Copyright © 2018 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Chicken Braised with Lemon, Sage and Olives

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June 20, 2018

When we’re in Palm Springs in the winter, surrounded by an abundance of citrus trees, I feel like citrus ought to be featured in every meal.

Being able to walk out the door and pick lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit and tangerines, and NOT doing it, seems like such a grand missed opportunity.  Even if the ingredients for the rest of the meal don’t come from within a few feet of my door, the citrus fruits and herbs can.

With that in mind, and the prospect of cooking a multi-course dinner for 15 people in a kitchen that’s about 8’ x 10’ got me to thinking.  Individually lemons, sage, and olives pair well with chicken so why not all of them together in the same dish?

Looking up into a lemon tree in Palm Springs

Next came the method.  With fifteen people I needed at least 15 pieces of chicken.  I was pretty sure that with all the other courses, one piece of chicken per person would be enough.  I added a few more for good measure.

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Braising 18 pieces of chicken on the stove top would have consumed a good deal of space so I opted for the oven and a “hotel pan,” sometimes called a steam table tray.  You know, those cafeteria-style rectangular pans.  I have a mess of them in an array of sizes.  Made of stainless steel, they’re non-reactive.  You can cook and store food in them, simplifying the preparation process.  Shallow roasting pans are a good substitute.  Don’t use aluminum pans or other reactive materials due to the lemon juice in this dish.

To keep it simple, I decided not to brown the chicken first, but rather to do it at the end by turning up the oven.  I made a marinade by buzzing the ingredients in a blender, so even that is super-easy.

A hotel pan is a great way to prepare large quantities of food

Which part of the chicken to use was never in question.  I like what happens to chicken thighs with long, slow braising.  Keeping the bone in adds flavor and structure so I suggest avoiding boneless thighs.

If you keep the skin on you’ll have to remove it before browning and serving the chicken because it will be rubbery from the moist heat.  I usually prefer to keep the skin on as it helps keep the meat moist but the combination of low and slow cooking and a tight cover meant the effect of the skin would be marginal.  Removing the skin in the beginning makes the dish even simpler to prepare.  Besides, the skin is a great addition to the stock pot when making chicken stock or broth.

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I keep a zipper lock bag in my freezer into which I put chicken skin and other bits that I trim off chicken then add the contents to the stock pot with backs and wings.  Skin contains a lot of fat but since it will be skimmed off at the end it’s not really a concern.  The collagen in the skin, however, will greatly improve the mouthfeel of the broth.  In the “old days” adding chicken feet to the stock pot served the same purpose but finding chicken feet is challenging.

A Palm Springs orange tree, in the distance, full of ripe oranges

While this dish was created in the Palm Springs winter, it works well year-round thanks to the non-stop availability of lemons.  The next time you’re cooking for a crowd, give it a try and let me know what you think.

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 Chicken Braised with Lemon, Sage and Olives
I created this recipe for my father-in-law’s birthday, January 2018. The lemons came from the trees outside of our house in Palm Springs. Though not essential, I prefer to put a sheet of baking parchment over the chicken before covering with aluminum foil to keep the reactive aluminum completely out of contact with the acid in the lemon juice.
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Course Mains, Poultry
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Mains, Poultry
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Make marinade by pureeing the olive oil, lemon juice, 6 cloves garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper in a blender.
  2. Pour the marinade over the chicken thighs and mix well.
  3. Marinate chicken thighs overnight in the refrigerator.
  4. Lightly oil a non-reactive hotel pan or shallow roasting pan.
  5. Arrange lemon slices on the bottom of the pan.
  6. Put a sage leaf on each lemon slice.
  7. Put a chicken thigh on each sage-topped lemon slice, reserving the marinade.
  8. Scatter olives around the chicken.
  9. Smash the remaining 8 garlic cloves and scatter around the chicken.
  10. Pour the marinade over the chicken. Cover the pan tightly with foil. (If possible, cover the pan with a sheet of parchment before the aluminum foil.)
  11. Put the chicken into a preheated 350°F oven. Cook until the chicken is nearly fall-apart tender, 90-120 minutes.
  12. Using a turkey baster, remove most of the liquid from the pan. Put the liquid into a fat separator.
  13. Turn the heat as high as the oven goes. Put the pan of chicken on the top rack until it takes on some color, approximately 10-15 minutes. You can also use the broiler for this, though many broilers do not have enough heated surface area to brown the contents of a large pan.
  14. While the chicken is browning, skim the fat from the pan juices.
  15. Carefully move the chicken thighs, with lemon slices intact, to a serving platter or individual plates.
  16. Scatter the olives over the chicken.
  17. Pour some of the defatted pan juices over the chicken.
  18. Pass the remaining defatted pan juices at the table.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Recipes

Gary’s Barbecue Rub

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June 15, 2018

As summer approaches, my thoughts of cooking turn to the outside.  Luckily, at 8000 feet, it’s not a problem to use the stove or the oven inside, even for extended periods of time, as the outdoor temperature is usually quite moderate and the house doesn’t really heat up.

Even so, summer instigates a more leisurely style of cooking for me.

I like using my smoker, or grill, or wood-burning oven.

My smoker  has an adjustment for the heat output but not temperature, per se. If the wind or external temperature change, the internal smoker temperature changes, too.

There is no doubt that I have more of an Italian palate: more savory, less sweet.  In contrast, an American palate generally accepts much more sweetness in an array of foods.

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Once, when my husband’s Great Uncle Duilio (born and raised in Italy but then residing in Argentina) was visiting, we made an American breakfast of pancakes and bacon.  He totally got into using maple syrup on the pancakes, and loved the bacon, but couldn’t understand the concept of allowing the sweet syrup to touch his bacon.  It just wasn’t right.

By European standards, American barbecue is sweet.  Even when we, as Americans, think it isn’t.

My wood-burning oven can also run on natural gas. It is great for pizza.

I guess I’ve developed an appreciation for a sweeter, more American approach to certain foods…barbecue, baked beans, bacon with maple syrup, and so forth.  Definitely, though, I still prefer foods less sweet than many of my friends would find acceptable.

Today’s recipe is quite simple.  It’s a barbecue rub.  I developed it and have successfully used it on chicken, turkey, pork and beef.

In an upcoming post, I will describe my method for preparing skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs with both barbecue rub and barbecue sauce.

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My DCS grill has a wood chip container with its own flame for precisely controlled smoking, whether low temperature or high temperature

If you’re at all interested and, like me, want to be able to replicate you cooking over and over again, you need to develop your own barbecue rub rather than relying on a pre-mixed, store-bought version.  This recipe is as good a starting point as I can think of.  Honestly, it only takes a few minutes to mix enough for a summer of barbecuing!

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 Gary's Barbecue Rub
If you can’t find dried New Mexican chile molido, substitute a mixture of cayenne and paprika, half and half or to taste. Chile molido is pure ground dried red chile. There are no additional herbs or spices. It is NOT chili powder!! There aren’t really any pictures for this recipe. All they would show is measuring out dry ingredients. Enjoy the simplicity.
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Course Spice Mixtures and Rubs
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
cups
Ingredients
Course Spice Mixtures and Rubs
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
cups
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Combine chile, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and celery seed in a jar.
  2. Grind black pepper in a coffee grinder.
  3. Add oregano to black pepper and grind again.
  4. Add pepper-oregano mixture to the contents of the jar.
  5. Pulverize the brown sugar in the coffee grinder.
  6. Add the brown sugar to the other ingredients. Mix well.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Salsa Friulana di Marisa (Marisa’s Friulan Tomato Sauce)

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June 11, 2018

Ma’s spaghetti sauce.  That’s what my husband calls it.

That’s pretty similar to what most of us of Italian heritage who grew up in the United States called the sauce that our mothers (yes, it was almost always the mothers) made most frequently.

It isn’t as if there aren’t more pasta sauces than one can count.  It’s just that for everyone I know of Italian heritage, there’s one that stands out above the rest.

For my husband’s family, this is the one.

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It’s actually quite similar to Ivana’s sauce.  Ivana is married to my mother-in-law’s cousin Olvino.  Ivana grew up in Friuli but in a different town.  There are subtle differences in her sauce and my mother-in-law’s sauce, but if you read both recipes you’ll certainly see the similarities.

My mother-in-law doesn’t remember when she learned to make this sauce, or even if she learned from her mother or her aunt.  She does remember, however, that her father asked her how she could get married (she was engaged to my father-in-law) without knowing how to cook.

My mother- and father-in-law on their wedding day (apparently before she knew how to cook)

She got married, ultimately learned to cook, and then headed up the kitchen in Castleview, the restaurant that she and my father-in-law owned in Fox River Grove, Illinois.  The restaurant was named Castleview because it had a view of an adjacent…you guessed it…castle…well, sort of a castle.   For more information on the castle, you can look here.

The Bettendorf Castle in Fox River Grove, Illinois

By the time I came on the scene, it was difficult to catch more than a glimpse of the castle from the restaurant due to the growth of trees and other vegetation.

Another view of the Bettendorf Castle

My mother-in-law thought my version of her sauce was “pretty good.”  She did note that it was thicker than hers; probably because I cook it longer but also potentially due to a different brand of tomatoes.  If you want it thinner, cook it less or (my preference) just add more water or put a splash of pasta-cooking water in the bowl with the pasta and the sauce.  (Just between you and me, when I’m putting dinner on the table using my mother-in-law’s sauce, I usually boil it down a bit because it seems a little thin to me!)

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In a few weeks I’ll be posting a recipe for Friulan Risotto that incorporates this sauce.  Stay tuned.

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 Salsa Friulana di Marisa (Marisa's Friulan Tomato Sauce)
The amount of water needed will vary based on how thick the tomato puree is, how much liquid evaporates during cooking, and how thick or thin you like your sauce. Feel free to add more water during cooking if the mixture is becoming too thick. If the sauce is too thin uncover near the end of cooking and increase the heat to cook off more water.
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Course Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Servings
quarts
Ingredients
Course Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Servings
quarts
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Finely chop the parsley, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic in food processor.
  2. There should be a bit of texture to the mixture, not a puree. Reserve.
  3. Puree the crushed tomatoes in the food processor.
  4. Rinse the cans out with some of the water. Add the water to the pureed tomatoes. Reserve.
  5. Sauté the beef in the olive oil on high heat until no pink remains.
  7. Add the chopped vegetables.
  8. Sauté on high heat until all the liquid evaporates and then continue to sauté until the mixture darkens slightly and smells cooked.
  9. Add the wine and continue to cook until the wine has evaporated.
  10. Add the allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir well.
  11. Add the tomato paste and sauté until it begins to smell sweet, approximately 5 minutes at medium-high heat.
  12. Meanwhile, rinse tomato paste can out with some of the water and add it to the pureed tomatoes.
  13. Add pureed tomatoes, bay leaf, oregano, basil and remaining water.
  15. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, partially covered for about 2 ½ hours, stirring every 20 minutes.
  16. After about an hour of cooking, begin to taste and adjust seasoning.
  17. Serve with the pasta of your choice.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Recipes

Guyanese Barbecue Sauce

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June 6, 2018

In a prior blog post, I talked about Jamaican New Sugar, also known as Wet Sugar.  New Sugar is difficult to obtain outside of Jamaica and even in Jamaica it is becoming harder to get.

Just as New Sugar relates to Jamaica, Demerara Brown sugar relates to Guyana.  Demerara Brown sugar is much easier to find, however.

The typical brown sugars available in the United States are made from refined white sugar with the addition of molasses.

New sugar, Demerara Brown sugar, and Turbinado sugar all represent stages in sugar refining.  Rather than adding molasses back into white sugar, it hasn’t been completely refined out of any of these sugars.

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Of all of these, the one that I’ve used the most is Demerara Brown.  Even within this very distinct category, there are differences in refinement and moisture content.  Some Demerara Brown sugars are darker than others, though I’ve never seen a “grade” attached to these differences.  The Demerara Brown sugar that I used to buy in Guyana always seemed to have more moisture in it than that which is available in American markets.

I’ve found several sugars that are good substitutes for Demerara Brown sugar.  One came from Ecuador and, admittedly, isn’t much easier to source than Demerara Brown sugar.

The other is a brown sugar made for the Korean market that I found in an Asian grocery store.

Korean and Ecuadorean brown sugars are good substitutes for Demerara Brown Sugar

I prefer both of them over Turbinado sugar as substitutes for Demerara Brown sugar as they are both less refined than Turbinado and have more of the flavor of true Demerara Brown.  For this barbecue sauce, however, since sugar is not a big component (as it might be in baked goods, for example) the ordinary American style brown sugar from the supermarket would work just fine.

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I’ve been making this barbecue sauce since I was in college when I purchased a cookbook on a trip to Guyana.  (I might have mentioned this before, but I have thousands upon thousands of cookbooks.  I’ve actually run out of shelf space for them and have them stacked in boxes which is far from ideal.  I’m trying to figure out where to install additional library shelving so I can get the books out of the boxes and make them accessible.)

Turbinado sugar, which is lighter in color than Demerara Brown sugar, is not a good substitute for the flavor

What’s Cooking in Guyana is representative of a style of cookbook published decades ago in countries around the world, well at least in Anglophone countries with which I am most familiar!  It is based on recipes from Home Economics professionals and contains traditional recipes, some (modified) international recipes as well as a quantity of what I call “made up” recipes.  That is, recipes with no particular cultural history to them that were developed by professional cooks.  Admittedly, some of these recipes enter the cannon of locally prepared dishes and, if they survive long enough, can become “traditional.”

Never once in all my time in Guyana was I served anything that contained barbecue sauce.  Barbecue, and anything resembling barbecue, just wasn’t part of the country’s culinary heritage.  So, the presence of barbecue sauce in this Guyanese cookbook is curious.  If you look at the ingredients, you’ll notice a resemblance to the ketchup-based barbecue sauces of the United States but a closer look at the ingredients will demonstrate the use of a number of specifically West Indian ingredients.

The first Guyanese cookbook I ever purchased

I classify this recipe as a “made up” one.  And a very good one at that!  It is my go-to barbecue sauce (when I’m not being lazy and reaching for a bottle of the purchased stuff, which, admittedly, I do from time to time.)  Many years ago, I  changed the proportions of ingredients in this barbecue sauce to suit my taste.  I feel that it is now truly mine.

In the coming weeks, I’m going to post my recipe for barbecue rub and then after that my recipe for smoked chicken thighs that makes use of both the rub and the barbecue sauce.  Stay tuned!

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 Guyanese Barbecue Sauce
Wiri wiri peppers are nearly impossible to obtain outside of Guyana. Habanero or Scotch Bonnet peppers can be substituted. Demerara brown sugar can be difficult to find. Any coarse grained brown sugar can be used, such as Turbinado. Regular American-style brown sugar would work too. Lea and Perrins Steak Sauce can be substituted for the Pickapeppa Sauce. This recipe is modified from “what’s cooking in Guyana” published in 1973 by the Guyanese Ministry of National Development & Agriculture and the Carnegie School of Home Economics.
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Course Savory Sauces and Marinades
Cuisine West Indian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
cups
Ingredients
Course Savory Sauces and Marinades
Cuisine West Indian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
cups
Ingredients
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Rating: 0
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Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a small non-reactive saucepan.
  2. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
  3. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
  4. Thin with a few tablespoons of water, if necessary.
  5. The sauce may be refrigerated for up to one week.
Recipe Notes

Despite its name, Pickapeppa sauce is not spicy.  It is very similar to a good steak sauce, such as A-1

Wiri wiri peppers are almost impossible to obtain, and the small amount needed does not justify a strenuous search.  Habanero or Scotch Bonnet peppers, to taste, can be substituted.

Copyright © 2018 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Smoky Baked Beans

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June 1, 2018

In my first year of medical school (I know that only because of the apartment that I was living in at the time) my parents and my Aunt Ann came to visit for a weekend.  I’ve talked about Aunt Ann in previous blog posts, like this one that includes her recipe for Pineapple Cream Cheese Pie.  She was married to my father’s brother, Jano.

As often happened with my mother, the conversations frequently veered to food.  On this occasion, for some reason, my Aunt Mary’s baked beans.

Aunt Mary was really my mother’s Aunt Mary by marriage.  She was my Great Aunt Mary.  Actually, by the time I knew her, she wasn’t really my aunt, great or otherwise, because she and my mother’s Uncle Derp had gotten divorced.  Nonetheless, we all still called her Aunt Mary.  Well, really, due to some bizarre twist, we called her Aunt Mary Derp if we were referring to her in a conversation and it wasn’t otherwise clear which of the several Aunt Marys in the family was the one we meant.  Why we appended the name of her ex-husband to hers rather than using her last name, I’ll never know!!

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In any case, my parents both talked about Aunt Mary’s baked beans.  They recalled that she baked them overnight.  My mother came up with a reasonable facsimile of what went into the beans.

We tried to do the initial boiling of the beans in a slow cooker while we went out for the day.  That was a failure.  On the low setting, the beans were still hard after hours and hours of cooking.  That got remedied by a quick boil on the stove.

My smoker has an adjustment for the heat output but not temperature, per se. If the wind or external temperature change, the internal smoker temperature changes, too.

We took the par-boiled beans and mixed them with all the other ingredients and put them in the oven overnight.  That was failure number two, but one we couldn’t recover from.  The long cooking period created a burnt taste in the beans given the high sugar content.  The beans hadn’t actually dried out but they must have gotten hot enough to start caramelizing the sugar.  The road from caramel to burnt isn’t long.  Unless one doesn’t get more than six hours sleep, we discovered that it wasn’t ideal to bake the beans overnight!

Eventually, I figured it out.  The recipe for my version of Aunt Mary’s Baked Beans now sits proudly on the hard drive of my computer along with two recipes of my own development.  I also have this great hack for doctoring canned baked beans that I learned from my cousin Shirley (it always generates requests for the recipe that I artfully dodge) but that isn’t actually written down anywhere.

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Today, we’re going to focus on my recipe for baked beans cooked in a smoker.  I’ll also share a trick for making these in the oven if you don’t have a smoker.

When I make these, I put them on the bottom rack of my smoker, uncovered, with meat on the racks above.  Meat juices drip into the beans making them extra tasty!  The high humidity in the smoker keeps the uncovered beans from drying out.

Print Recipe
 Smoky Baked Beans
Adding salt to the bean-soaking liquid is optional. It seasons them and also decreases the cooking time. I find it especially useful where I live as water boils at less than 198°F and beans take much longer to cook. If you don’t have a smoker, add 1 teaspoon of Liquid Smoke seasoning and cook the beans in the oven with a cover. As a reality check, if you’re paying close attention to the photos, you’ll notice that these are “adult” lima beans not baby lima beans. There must have been a run on baby lima beans when I went shopping for the ingredients for this recipe as none of the markets had them.
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Course Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Sides
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Passive Time 12 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Sides
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Passive Time 12 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
  1. Wash and pick over the beans.
  2. Dissolve 1 ½ tablespoons salt, if using, in 2 quarts of water. Add the beans.
  3. Soak the beans for about 12 hours in the refrigerator.
  4. Drain and rinse the beans.
  5. Coarsely chop the red Bell pepper.
  6. In a blender jar, combine the Bell pepper with some of the 6 cups of water.
  7. Puree the Bell pepper.
  8. Add the chipotle pepper, if using, and puree again. Reserve the pepper puree.
  9. Sauté the bacon until golden.
  10. Add the onion and sauté until soft.
  11. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant.
  12. Add the drained beans, pepper puree, remaining water, and bay leaves.
  13. Gently boil, partially covered until almost tender (1 to 2 hours). Add water from time to time if needed. The beans should be just barely covered with liquid at the end.
  14. Combine the ketchup, white wine, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt and black pepper.
  15. Stir the ketchup mixture into the cooked beans.
  16. Return to a simmer on the stovetop then bake (uncovered if using a smoker or covered if using the oven) at 225°F for six hours, stirring once or twice.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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