Grilled Corn with Romesco Sauce (made with Nut Butter) - Daring Cooks July '10

There's a goofy Southern insult that goes: "He was so bucked tooth, he could eat corn on the cob through a picket fence". Being the food-driven gal I've always been, when I heard that saying all I thought was, "Lucky guy, I love corn!"

Grilled Corn on the Cob
with Romesco Sauce
(made from Nut Butter)
The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

This month's Daring Cook's Challenge was about making your own Nut Butter. Well, I can't imagine a more satisfying and yet simple food. There is essentially ONE step: Pulverize your choice of nuts into a smooth butter in the food processor.
If the nuts are dry (ie. almonds, peanuts) you'll need a drizzle of neutral oil (think canola, etc) to get it really smooth and spreadable. If the nuts have a lot of their own fats (ie. cashews, pistachios, etc) you can even skip that addition. Toasting the nuts first gives them a rich and sweet flavor.

In a matter of moments, you end up with not only a protein filled main event (sandwiches, fillings, etc.), but also an amazingly diverse addition to foods from South Africa to Asia, to South Texas, USA.

Part of our challenge was to use the nut butter in a SAVORY dish. I almost slobbered myself just thinking about all the SWEET dishes I could make with Nut Butter; That was easy. After a few minutes of mourning all the baked goods I was already tasting in my mind, I realized how many savory dishes could be knocked up a notch with nuts.
I chose an easy one (or my schedule chose it for me), and it reminds me of times when I lived in Houston, Texas. It seemed like everything had barbecue sauce, or chili peppers on it, and that was fine by me. I did a little "culinary upgrade" on the regular barbecue sauce and made ROMESCO; A warm, peppery, earthy Spanish sauce that needs to be on your "use with everything" list.

Romesco originated in Spain and often uses Ancho (pronounced Aahnn-cho) peppers, which are dried Poplano. You can make it spicier with Chipotle, or bring it way down, but hearty with roasted red peppers. Romesco gives fish, grilled veggies, soups, chicken, steaks, pasta and sandwiches a "mumble" factor. That's when something's so good, folks want to talk about it while they're chewing, so all they can do is mumble.
RECIPE: ROMESCO w/Nut Butter

3 Tbls. Nut butter (from 1/4 cup Almonds, and 1/4 cup peanuts)
2 Ancho chilis
2 pieces of stale bread, in pieces
3 cloves garlic
2 tomatoes
1 Tbls. lemon juice
1 Tbls. brown sugar
few sprigs of parsley
salt/pepper to taste
1/4 cup Olive Oil

1) Place the dried Ancho chilis in a cup, add boiling water, cover and soak to reconstitute for 30 minutes.

2) While they soak, place the tomatoes and peeled garlic cloves on a parchment lined pan and roast in the oven 350F, for 30 minutes. (Or use these from your MISTO FORNO in a previous post.)

3) Remove the chili from the water, seed and chop large. Let the tomatoes and garlic cool.

4) In a food processor, add the chilies, tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley, lemon juice, nut butter, brown sugar and bread. Process til smooth.

5) Pour in the oil, continuing to process until you have a nice spreadable paste. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
GRILLED CORN on the COBB:

1) Remove silks, but replace husks on 4 Corns.
2) Soak the corn in water for 30 minutes.
3) Soak the skewers in water for 30 minutes (this is so they don't burn dry)
4) Grill the husk covered corn for 20 minutes in a covered grill on Med/High. Check often and turn to all sides.
5) Cool the corn, remove husk and cut into individual pieces.
6) Skewer each piece and slather on the Romesco Sauce.
Grill to reheat and warm up the sauce.
Serve warm.

One big bite of this Grilled Corn with Romesco and the tip of your tongue jumps up in attention, then is calmed by a little sweetness on the side. Ahhh, summer.

Smokey Pork Satay - Daring Cooks January 2010

I don't wanna rub it in, but it's January and I GRILLED Pork Satay OUTSIDE, on the patio, in short sleeves. It's one of the big reasons I love living in California. I grew up in North Carolina and I miss the varied and equal climates; 4 distinctive seasons, but I do NOT miss cold weather. Another reason I love living here is the opportunity to meet, experience and learn about so many different cultures; most of the time right next door. Thai food has become one of my favorites, so when this month's DARING COOKS CHALLENGE was Pork Satay it was...like...awesome dude.

The January 2010 DC challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppylicious and she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay from the book 1000 Recipes by Martha Day.

Even Cuppy was clear that this recipe is not exactly authentic Thai or Indonesian, but a simple and pretty terrific English version of a great Thai dish. Satay is also made with Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Tofu and in some regions, even Turtle. Credit for its origin is often given to the Javanese street-vendors. All over Southeast Asia there are still street vendors selling Satays along with the highest price restaurants. I enjoyed making and serving these Thai-inspired skewers, but certainly agree that it's a "soft" version of a classic.



A couple things this recipe does have in common with authentic Malaysian, and Indonesian recipes are: Using Tumeric, for the color and earthy base, and marinating for deep flavor and tenderness.

I used Pork Tenderloin for mine (just because I already had it), but much cheaper and tougher cuts can be used since the marinade will help break down muscle fibers and make the meat melt-in-your-mouth tender.





I marinaded the pork slices in a large zip-lock bag, (along with the scraps that I used later for a quick Wok-lunch) in a bowl held in the refrigerator overnight.








I made the Peanut Sauce a day early, then reheated it with a little Coconut Milk and served it on the plate in a Cucumber bowl cut from the end of the cucumber along with some Rice Vinegar- marinated Cucumber slices.
I threaded the marinated pork strips onto wooden skewers (that had soaked in water for about 30 minutes to reduce having them burn.) Then, I grilled the Pork Satay over Med/High heat for about 5 minutes on each side, glazing with marinate once when I turned them.
This was a pretty simple process (especially as Daring Cook's Challenges go.) You can broil these in the oven, too, and serve with flavorful rice and a light salad; a healthy, easy, light dinner and kids always think the skewers are fun and different. Thanks, Cuppy!

Husband said, "These are smokey, in a great way."

Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce

Satay Marinade

1/2 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 T ginger root, chopped (optional) (2 cm cubed)
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ground coriander (5 mls)
1 tsp ground cumin (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric (2-2.5 mls)
2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (30 mls)
1 pound of pork (loin or shoulder cuts) (16 oz or 450g)

Feeling the need to make it more Thai? Try adding a dragon chili, an extra tablespoon of ginger root, and 1 tablespoon (0.5 oz or 15 mls) of fish sauce. (I keep some premature (still green) dragon chili peppers in the freezer for just such an occasion.)

Directions:
1a. Cheater alert: If you have a food processor or blender, dump in everything except the pork and blend until smooth. Lacking a food processor, I prefer to chop my onions, garlic and ginger really fine then mix it all together in a medium to large bowl.
2a. Cut pork into 1 inch strips.
3a. Cover pork with marinade. You can place the pork into a bowl, cover/seal and chill, or place the whole lot of it into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.

Faster (cheaper!) marinade:

2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (1 oz or 30 mls)
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ginger powder (5 mls)
1 tsp garlic powder (5 mls)
1 tsp cayenne pepper (5 mls)

Directions:
1b. Mix well.
2b. Cut pork into 1 inch thick strips (2-2.5 cm thick), any length.
3b. Cover pork with marinade. You can place the pork into a bowl, cover/seal and chill, or place the whole lot of it into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.

Cooking Directions (continued):

4. If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak your skewers in warm water for at least 20 minutes before preparing skewers.
5. Gently and slowly slide meat strips onto skewers. Discard leftover marinade.*
6. Broil or grill at 290°C/550° F (or pan fry on medium-high) for 8-10 minutes or until the edges just start to char. Flip and cook another 8-10 minutes.

* If you’re grilling or broiling, you could definitely brush once with extra marinade when you flip the skewers.

Peanut Sauce

3/4 cup coconut milk (6 oz or 180 mls)
4 Tbsp peanut butter (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp lemon juice (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 Tbsp soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp brown sugar (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground cumin (2.5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground coriander (2.5 mls)
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)

1. Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, mix well.
2. Over low heat, combine coconut milk, peanut butter and your soy-lemon-seasoning mix. Mix well, stir often.
3. All you’re doing is melting the peanut butter, so make your peanut sauce after you’ve made everything else in your meal, or make ahead of time and reheat.

Pepper Dip (optional)

4 Tbsp soy sauce (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp lemon juice (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp brown sugar (5 mls)
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)
1 finely chopped green onion (scallion)

Mix well. Serve chilled or room temperature.

Tamarind Dip (optional)

4 Tbsp tamarind paste (helpful link below) (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 finely chopped green onion (scallion)
1 tsp brown or white sugar, or to taste (about 5 mls)

Mix well. Serve chilled or room temperature.

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Tips for grilling tofu:
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianbarbecuerecipes/qt/grillingtofu.htm

More on wooden and bamboo skewers:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2189638_use-bamboo-skewers.html

More dips and sauces:
http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/asia/thai/indexall.html

How to make tamarind paste:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/get_cooking/techniques/092002.shtml