2007 Pullet Surprise Entry for Poultry Excellence

My friends over at Peanut Butter Etouffee are sponsoring an event called the The 2007 Pullet Surprise for Poultry Excellence.

This event is in celebration of 10,000 visits to their site. All I have to do is post a poultry recipe which is one of my favorites and guaranteed to please. When I first read about this event my thoughts included two different chicken preps I wanted to showcase. One was chicken cooked in a clay baking dish and the other is obviously what I'm posting about, an Ethiopian inspired dish called "Doro Wat" or simply spicy braised chicken stew. May I confess that I had not made this dish prior to today. Weeks ago I did surf the net for recipes and info on how to prepare this dish. I did make my own Berbere, a hot pepper seasoning which is a combination of spices and heat used in many Ethiopian dishes. From many recipes I present my version of Doro Wat.



I adapted a recipe from Recipezaar for the berbere

Berbere
1 teaspoon Ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon Ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon Allspice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Ground coriander
2 tablespoons Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground fenugreek seeds
1 1/4 cups Cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon Grated nutmeg
1/2 cup Paprika
1/4 teaspoon Ground cloves
1 tsp Turmeric
1 teaspoon Fresh ground black pepper

Toast the ground spices together over a low heat for 4 to 5 minutes: ginger, cardamom, coriander, fenugreek, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and allspice. Shake or stir to prevent burning. Add the salt, cayenne pepper, paprika and fresh ground black pepper and continue toasting and stirring for 10 to 15 more minutes. Do not burn.

Store in tightly covered glass jar.
Refrigerated it is good for 5 or 6 months.

Makes 1 1/2 cups.

For the Doro Wat, I couldn't find single recipe so I improvised and came up with this one which rocks. It's not often that you taste something you cook and say "damn that's good". For this I did. For this I give a must make again and again-it was that good. Note it is not diet food. I used butter and ghee plus I kept the skin of the chicken on.



Doro Wat (Ethiopian Chicken Stew)

1 whole chicken halved
1 lemon- juiced
8 ounces Tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 Stick butter
3 Tb Ghee
4 Hard boiled eggs (or more- one per serving)
3 medium size onions coarsely chopped
1 medium size bell pepper coarsely chopped
4 Cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon Ground black pepper
3 Tb prepared berbere

Make red pepper paste by combining tomato sauce, red wine, berbere. Reserve.

Score each chicken half slightly with a knife. Soak in lemon juice plus enough water to cover for about 15 minutes.



In a large stew pot, melt the butter and ghee, then saute the onions and garlic for about five minutes. Add bell pepper and saute about 3-5 minutes mores.


Add red pepper paste stirring occasionally while the mixture simmers about 15 minutes. Add enough water to keep mixutre a stew consistency.


Place chicken halves in pot coating well with the sauce. Continue to simmer, adding enough water to maintain the consistency of a thick soup. When chicken is half done, after about 20 minutes, put in the hard boiled eggs.



Cover and continue cooking until the chicken is tender. The dish is ready when the oil has risen to the top. Add black pepper and let sit until slightly cooled. Adjust to taste with salt.

Makes enough to serve 4 to 6.

Superbowl 2007 Throwdown Pictures

Menu for the event included pulled pork, chicken, brisket, jalapeno corn muffins, baked beans, potato salad, veggie plate, coleslaw and buns. Mr. B and I prepared the meats.
Chicken:
Left = Mr. B.
Right = Sylvie
Brisket
Left = Sylvie
Right = Mr. B
Pulled Pork
Left = Mr. B.
Right = Sylvie




See complete slideshow of event at my Flickr photos of the Low and Slow BBQ Throw Down event.

Low N Slow Throw Down Champion- Sylvie!

Lovely weekend. Not much time this morning to post about the BBQ Throwdown this past Superbowl weekend but I just wanted you all to know who won. At the top of the 4th quarter with the Colts outplaying the Bears, Sylvie was voted and named the Low N Slow Barbeque champion.


I want to thank my competitor, "Mr. B" for a fantastic weekend of cookin'.

Photos and more commentary on the event to follow.

Superbowl Party Weekend

This is going to be a hard core, meat packed weekend of BBQing. I've got two pork butts, one large brisket, tri-tip and a Costco pack of chicken thighs just waiting for my special touch with some low and slow heat. Vegetarians and red meat/pork restricted folks you are forwarned- there is nothing healthy about what I'm posting about or ingesting this weekend other than red wine.

Huli Huli Chicken and Korean BBQ Shortribs

So what do these two meats have in common? Well, at first glance, not a lot. Only that I used the same marinade for both of them and they were grilled side by side.

one of my co-workers told me about this fantastic marinade her family from Hawaii use to make Huli Huli Chicken. She usually just adds a little of this and a little of that but decided to measure so she could tell me what to do.

Huli Huli stands for "turn turn" in Hawaiian and refers to turning the chicken on the grill. I looked at varying recipes on the internet and found some basic ingredients and then those added ingredients individuals use to personalize the marinade.
















The basic marinade as told to me by LM is listed below.

You can't be garlic shy as there are 10 cloves, coarsely chopped in this recipe.
4-5 green onions sliced
2 Tbsp minced ginger
2-3 cups soy sauce
1/4 cup vinegar (I used rice vinegar)
1/4 cup brown sugar (I added more- 1/2 cup)
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder (as if I needed more garlic)
3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1 tbsp oil (I used olive oil)

All ingredients are blended together. Marinade chicken pieces at least 24 hours assuring it is well coated.

Remove chicken from marinade (throw it out). BBQ/grill over hot coals, turning and turning. The best part is the crispy almost burnt skin with a sweet, salty, garlicky flavor. Do not baste the chicken during cooking.

Alternatives which may be added to the sauce include curry powder, pineapple juice, thai garlic sauce, sherry wine for the vinegar, honey for the brown sugar, ketsup and lime juice,to taste.

I had some unused marinade which I used for some Korean beef short ribs I purchased Saturday. These were also marinaded for 24 hours and grilled til done.

Weekend Dog Blogging #70

Ziggy on a Sunday Afternoon amd Mommie wants to take my picture again for WDB.

Actually it has been a fairly low key day. I did a little shopping for next weeks "Throw Down" and I finished the prep of some Korean short ribs and also a specially marinaded chicken for tonights dinner. That will be a separate post later if all comes out well. I am using a recipe given to me by a co-worker for authentic Huli Huli Chicken. Thank you LM.


Sweetnicks hosts Weekend Dog Blogging

Getting Ready For Superbowl Sunday

One of our good friends (B)challenged me to a Bobby Flay style Throw down with BBQ on center stage.

B has been trying to master his BBQ skills for years. With attention to detail, a few tried recipes and the right equipment he thinks his Que can match up to or is even better than mine. How did this challenge start? Well, this past October Four Q BBQ competed in the Imperial Beach, Beachfront 2006 event in San Diego (may I add, 1st Place Pork Butt, 2nd Place Brisket and 3rd Place Chicken). B came out to give us support and to see what this competition thing is all about. As grown folks do when sitting around with friends and family, someone always seems to offer that they can do something better. Yea, B says he'll can match up his que to mine anyday. From this evolved the "Throw down Challenge".

We set the date to revolve around Superbowl Sunday as there would be lots of hungry bellies and an arena of unbiased judges. The host of the party are M and D. It's a tradition now for them to host a Superbowl party. The flyers have been sent out and this is advertised as:

The Competition You’ve Been Waiting For
!!!A Low-N-Slow Barbeque Throw Down!!!

SYLVIE “BRING IT ON”
VS.
B “I’VE GOT BARBEQUE”

The rules are simple, just cook your own que. We are doing brisket, pork butt, ribs and chicken. We do the cookin at B and G's home and then cart all the meats to M and D's. Stay tuned for more on this great event.

Yippee- Crisco's Trans Fats Are Gone

I am going to get off this subject after this post. Crisco products no longer will have trans fats. Good and flaky pie dough lives on. This was announced this week by the J.M. Smucker Company. It's just a matter of time before many others follow suit.

Trans Fat- What's Going To Happen To Choice?

Just an FYI in case you're not keeping up with what is going on in the food choice world. The below article was published in the L.A. Times last week (1/11/07). Basically what it boils down to is that some cities like New York have banned trans fats in restaurant food(as a side line- some cities like Chicago have banned foie gras- duck/goose abuse?). Banning of trans fats is targeted at saving us from heart disease, minimizing financial burdens on health care systems and protecting our children from these diseases.

Yes we know trans fats aren't good for us and so are a lot of other things like excessive alcohol, high saturated fat diets, excessive sugar, cigarrette smoking, junk food and the list goes on. But what is important is that you have a choice. As long as you know it is present (labeling is a must) you can make your own decision on whether to ingest. You can only hurt yourself physically (and a few loved ones as a consequence). Banning trans fats means no choice. Some would argue that many in the U.S. can not make the "right" choice and so they need beauracrats to do it for them. I believe trans fats are bad, should not be eaten, are hazardous to your health and I make a choice to limit how much I ingest. I do not believe it is a matter of law. As noted in the article- what will be banned next- butter? cream? cheese? or even bacon?

I don't ordinarily get on a soap box and voice my opinions but this prompted me. I'm willing to bet you are all aware of the hazards of trans fats in our diet, but do you think there should be laws against their use in our food supply or should you have a choice based on informed decision making?

L.A. County to study trans fat ban
Feasibility of keeping the ingredient out of restaurant foods will be reviewed with industry and health groups.
From the Associated Press
January 11, 2007


The government war on trans fat, started when New York City banned it from restaurant food, has reached Los Angeles.

County supervisors have voted to study the feasibility of banning artificial trans fats from restaurants, and the City Council in December had asked for a similar report on at least restricting it.

"I'm very concerned about the whole trans fat issue," Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said after Tuesday's vote for the study. "Every time I buy something, I look to see if it has trans fat."

Public health officials will be asked to review the issue with the restaurant industry and community health organizations, and to study whether the county can regulate trans fats at restaurants countywide or just in unincorporated areas.

Jot Condie, president of the 22,000-member California Restaurant Assn., said he's open to suggestions but believes banning something widely used in homes "has more cons than pros."

"What's next? Butter, cheese or anything that has saturated fat, which accounts for 15% of the average American diet, and also is not healthy, but that also needs to be taken in moderation?" Condie asked.

Since last January, the Food and Drug Administration has required that trans fat content be listed on all packaged foods. Trans fats, listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, are believed to be harmful because they wreak havoc with cholesterol levels.

Last year, the New York City Board of Health voted to ban trans fats in restaurants and to require food labels on menus at all chain restaurants that already provide calorie information.

Weekend Dog Blogging

With a very cold chill (for Los Angeles anyway), Ziggy is keeping an eye on what's going on outside. Ziggy has gotten use to not having a housefull of eager folks ready to offer him a treat.

This week hasn't been a very big cooking week for me. I have a freezer full of leftovers to get through so I feel guilty about buying anything else. G and I are spending a lot of time trying to redecorate the family room and convert it into a "media" room. That equates to lots of driving all over the city trying to agree on choices and ending the day with a quick meal at some local eatery. The family room was actually a place for the kids (young adults) to hang out. As things go over the years they have trashed the furniture as they made it into their space. G and I finally took it back and now it's time to make it work for us.

Thanks Cate at Sweetnicks for another weekend of dog blogging. See all the other cuties from all over the world at her site.

More Greater Los Angeles Food Blog Sites

Food related blogs have been popping up all over the internet. I have been blogging for nearly two years now. When I first started, I was surprised by how few blogs there were. Even more surprising were the limited number of blogs from Los Angeles based writers. From memory, in 2005 there were specific geographic areas in the U.S. with very strong food blogging comraderie. Seattle and San Francisco to name the leaders at that time. New York was also a strong contender. Well that has all changed with the number of food related blogs continuing to grow daily all over the U.S. in strikingly great numbers.

In October 2005, Rachel at Fresh Approach wrote a response to a Los Angeles Times food section article disclosing a few more L.A. sites that were disclosed in the article. Again Rachel wrote in December 2005 regarding Scott Martelle's excellent article on "Blogging L.A." where three L.A. bloggers were highlighted.

Yes we have come a long way. Amy Scattergood's article "Celebs, gossip! Sure, we'll bite" media dish article in the January 3, 2007 L.A. Times noted 23 L.A. based food blogs. She wrote of a few of my favorites including the Delicious Life, Professor Salt (my BBQ Team mate "Go Four Q")and Oishieats. Many of the other blogs noted I had not visited so I took the opportunity to introduce myself. Interestingly I found myself visiting these new blogs in addition to links they had to other L.A. food blogging sites. Of note is that one site L.A. Digesty just happened to list 16/23 sites proclaimed to have food "News, Reviews and Gossip". The other 7 were noted on most of the blogrolls for the other 16 sites. L.A. Disgesty descibes the site as a "portal for the great Los Angeles food web sites" with reasonable criteria to be included- just routinely blog in L.A. primarily about places to eat and ask to be listed.

With that in mind, I thought it would be nice to list some other greater Los
Angeles blogs which may be of interest to you though some may not offer gossip, reviews or news, it's all good food. My only disclaimer is that I do not suggest that all sites are good and as of the time of this post, they were active sites though some may not post very often. In alphabetical order:

...and eat your green
...my burning kitchen
Bakingsheet
BBQ Junkie
Best of LA Good Eats
Colorado Chow
Daily Gluttony
Eat Drink and Be Merry
Fresh Approach
Good Luck deluxe
Grub Club
Immaeatchu
LA and OC Foodventures
LA Food Crazy
La Vida Dulce
Chowhound LA Area Tips for Dining
Manja Manja
Meet Me at the corner of third and..
Mikey Hates Everything
Monster Munching
Oh So Yummy
Peanut Butter Etouffee
Peru Food
Rate A Restaurant
Slow Food LA
Soul Fusion Kitchen
The Hungry Cat
The New Diner
The Survival Gourmet

Weekend Dog Blogging- Ziggy and Wendi With Tony

Tony really loves animals. He runs around the house with them like he was a little kid. Here he is with Ziggy and Wendi (my sister's maltese). Wendi is a layed back, just cuddle me little girl. Ziggy drives her nuts because he is a very energetic, want to play little boy.

Sweetnicks hosts weekend dog blogging where we can brag about our precious babies.

Resolution

It came to my attention that there are a number of food blogs in Southern California/Los Angeles/South Bay/San Fernando Valley/Orange County/Inland Empire that I had never heard about nor visited. My resolution for this next week is to become acquainted with them. I'm starting my venture with those listed in the January 3rd Food Section of the L.A. Times.

This should be a fun experience.

Dinner is Served- Have A Blessed New Year

New Year's feast for fortune and luck.
Black eyed Peas with Hamhocks
Oxtail Stew
Southern Greens
Cornbread

New Year's Day Dinner In Progress

My New Year's Day dinner menu is a combination of simple soul foods. Black eyed peas, southern green, oxtail stew, cornbread and rice. This is the same menu as last year's with a post from Jan 1, 2006 on the significance of the choices and the recipes. Everything is currently cooking so here is my dinner in progress. Come back for a view of the all the dishes ready to serve.

Ingredients
Veggies ready to flavor

Ox tails browning after a dusting with flour seasoned with salt and pepper
Southern green simmering in a broth with hamhocks, onion, salt, pepper, garlic, red pepper and bay leaf
Black eyed peas simmering in a broth with hamhocks, onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, salt and pepper

Weekend Dog Blogging 2006

This last weekend of 2006 marks the last week of Doggie blogging for the year. Sweetnicks has been kind enough to host this event and I want to thank her very much. (Thanks Cate)

With all the holiday planning, cooking and family visiting from out of town, it has been very hard to post and blog about my Ziggy. I hope Cate will continue WDB in 2007.

Santa did visit Ziggy. Here he is being teased by my son. Ziggy loves this toy.

Happy New Year To All

Happy New Year

It's New Year's Eve and for the life of me I don't know where 2006 went. The older you get the faster the time goes.

Today my time is devoted to organizing and setting up a new gadget. My present from my hubby this Christmas included a new refrigerator. He spent hours on line and checking out appliance stores all over Los Angeles. I was very picky about what I wanted. Firstly it could NOT be a GE nor Kitchenaid. Why? Well my old refrigerator was a GE and proved to have many problems with insulation which should not have occured. A couple of times a year my hubby has to get use a blow dryer to melt all the ice formed in the back of the freezer compartment (self defrosting?- should be but is not. My neighbor recently bought a Kitchenaid and has had the worst experience with their customer service department and service. She has had it for almost a month with numerous service visits already and it still doesn't work yet they refuse to replace it with another one- lemon. They insist on trying to fix it with wasted time overseeing service personnel who still can't get it working. It was brand new and not refurbished when she got it.

My other prerequisites included that it had to be stainless steel with french style doors. I needed at least 25 cubic feet of space and I preferred not to have the ice maker and water on the outside(to decrease potential service problems), but as manufacturers and appliance stores seek to milk you for all they can get, they only stock those with these bells and whistles. Yea, you can get those without but then you have to wait for the order to come in and we didn't plan this early enough in advance. Did I mention that my current refrigerator was on it's last leg?

While looking at what's available in the marketplace, we found out that Maytag manufactures most of all the brands out there including Amana and some Vikings just to name a couple. When you look at the guts, they are all alike with just a name plate on the outside to separate high end from low end pricing. Consumer reports indicate the Maytags/Amana in the french style were higher rated. I read some poor reviews regarding the exhorbitant amount of space the icemakers take up in most refrigerators, but then I'm not into ice cube trays.

What did I get? A Maytag Ice2go.




















Refrigerated area












Freezer compartment














Refrigerated area filled

Freezer compartment filled to capacity

Christmas 2006 Flickr Photos Are Up

See Flickr Photo link to Sylvie's Christmas 2006 Food Celebration.

Christmas Dinner Pictures

Not a lot of time to post about our family's Christmas dinner but thought a few pictures would hold until later.

Season's Greetings

I've started my food prep for Christmas dinner. I'm not going to disappoint anyone so I'm doing my usual overboard too many choices menu.

Smoked Turkey
Smoked Ham
Sirloin Roast
Baked Salmon
Rack of Lamb (maybe?)
Mac and cheese
Corn Pudding
Southern Greens with hamhock
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans
Monkey Bread

The ham is on the smoker. The turkey is brining in a mixture of salt, brown sugar, garlic, cloves, allspice, apple cider, water and soy sauce. Got another 9 hours to go on it. I'll start the sirloin roast in the morning along with many of the sides.