Roasted Hatch Chile Relish

How do you feel about chiles? Are bell peppers your bane? Or can you never say no to a jalapeño? 

I fall pretty squarely in the latter category. I love how many different species of chiles there are and the variety of flavor and heat is constantly inspiring me with new dishes and different twists.

This week, the wide wheel of chiles fell on the Hatch variety, so named because they hail from the New Mexico town, Hatch. The farmers in Hatch cultivated their own subspecies of green chile for so many years that it eventually assumed the name of its hometown. They can be very mild as well as quite hot, so you can modify this recipe to your taste, depending on the types of chiles you use.

Roasted Green Hatch Chile Relish

(makes about 3 cups)

2 cloves of garlic
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 cup roughly chopped white onion

2-1/2 Tbsps  extra-virgin olive oil
6 Hatch chiles
1/3 cup corn
1 Tbsp roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 Tbsps diced purple onion
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp kosher salt

Using a food processor, pulse the garlic with the red wine vinegar until the mixture is the size of a medium chop.

In a small pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over low heat. Add the white onions and sauté until they are heavily caramelized, about 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Meanwhile, grill the Hatch chiles over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes, or until about a quarter charred. If you don’t have a grill, well, bummer. I guess you could broil them in the oven, but it just won’t be the same. 

Once the chiles have finished grilling, remove them from the heat, cut in half lengthwise - discarding the stems and seeds, and set aside the chile.

Add the onions and the chiles to the mixture in the processor along with the corn, parsley, and purple onion and pulse 25 to 30 times to achieve the consistency of relish.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and mix in the honey, salt, and the remaining olive oil. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

At Bennett's, we served this relish with a quasi-caprese (heirloom tomatoes and Beecher's Smoked Flagship) and crispy rockfish. What would you serve it with? Tell me in the comments!

Beef & Pork Chili

The chili with seasonal greens panzanella, sprinkled with
a bit of Flagship cheese.

There's really nothing like a great chili recipe. It's like a classic rock standard. Any person can mess around with it according to their tastes and come up with some amazing flavors. I've played with a lot of chili recipes over the years. I've never quite been fond of beans in my chili; if you've followed this blog for a while you know my favorite part is usually the meat (often pork). So, of course, for my chili recipe, I started with both beef AND pork and went from there. You might think some of the ingredients seem odd, but this chili is pretttty darn good!

Beef & Pork Chili
Serves about 5 (2.75 quarts)

3/4 lb uncured bacon – pork belly
1 tbsp canola oil

1 red onion, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and rough chopped
1 poblano pepper, seeded, fine dice
1 large jalapeño, seeded, fine dice

I'm talking about BIIIIG flavor.

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

3 1/2 oz can adobo chipotle peppers, pureed
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1-1/2 tbsp chili powder
3-1/2 diced tomato (about 5 tomatoes
1 cup lager beer
1 tbsp kosher salt
1/2 tbsp. Maximus/Minimus Seasoning Blend
3 lb beef brisket, whole boneless, trimmed and cut into ¾-inch cubes
1 oz unsweetened dark chocolate, rough chop
1/2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp corn flour

Grind the bacon in a food processor until “pebbly,” not quite a full paste. In a large sauce pan over medium heat, very thoroughly brown the bacon in canola oil until fully rendered, about 20 minutes, leaving no white in the bacon and a deep, dark color is achieved (without burning).

Add all the red onion, yellow onion, garlic, poblano pepper and jalapeño to the pan and reduce the heat to medium, cooking about 20 minutes until vegetables are fully sweated through and softened.

Add the vinegar and cook for about three minutes or until the acrid smell reduces. Make sure to scrape the pan regularly to loosen any bacon or vegetables stuck to the pan.

Add the remaining ingredients except the corn flour, stirring well to combine. Bring it to a soft boil on medium-high then reduce to a simmer. Cook about 2 hours until the brisket is very tender, stiring occasionally to avoid sticking and adjust the heat as necessary. When nearly done, about 5 minutes before, sprinkle the corn flour on the chili and stir thoroughly to avoid clumping, then let cook for the last 5 minutes on very low heat.

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Please try this at home! I'd love to hear what you think and what changes you might make!

Sharlyn Melon Gazpacho with Spicy Grilled Prawns

Let me tell you: it is SO FANTASTIC to be back in Seattle and in the Bennett’s kitchen cooking again. Don’t get me wrong. I had an absolute blast in New York the last couple of months, opening the new Beecher’s Handmade Cheese in Manhattan. Now, I've made it back to the Northwest for one of my favorite times of year.

The end of summer is when nature shows us how much more it has to offer than what is available from industrial agriculture. Heirloom varieties abound in August,

and although most people only think of heirloom tomatoes, I get really excited about unconventional types of melon! And not what I call the Bud-Miller-Coors of the melon world: cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelon. Those are great and they certainly have their place. But when you look at other melons like hami or guia, you’re really starting to get into the good stuff! On that note, this week’s recipe is a summery gazpacho made from sharlyn melon instead of tomato. It’s got a crisp flavor with a little bit of heat that adds a complexity you don’t always get with gazpacho.

Sharlyn Melon Gazpacho with Grilled Spicy Prawns
Serves 6

Paprika Chile Oil
1 cup olive oil
1 jalapeño, peeled, seeded, chopped
3 Tbsp paprika
½ tsp red chile flakes
2 tsp salt
2 tsp Old Bay

Gazpacho
1 1/2 cup poblano or pascilla peppers
1 sharlyn melon, peeled, large chop
2 ears of corn, shucked, stripped
1 Tbsp salt
2 tsp honey
1 tsp lime juice
2 Fresno peppers, seeded, small dice
1 1/2 cup  jicama, peeled, small dice
1/2 mint leaf

Prawns
2 1/2 pounds or 30 prawns, cleaned, peeled

For the paprika chile oil, combine all of the ingredients, except the salt and Old Bay, together in a sauce pan and bring the mixture to 170°F for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and let sit for an hour before straining it through a coffee filter. Discard the solids and reserve the sauce. (This is our original recipe for the Paprika Chile Oil, but for the purposes of this dish, stir in the salt and the Old Bay.)

Char the poblanos over flame until soft, then remove from the heat and sweat in a covered container for 30 minutes.

While the poblanos are sweating, pulse the melons in a food processor to break them up. Blend the melon until it is mostly smooth, but still has some melon chunks. Do not overblend. Set aside.

Skin the poblanos most of the way, leaving a little of the charred skin. Cut open the poblanos and seed them. Combine the poblanos with the melon in the food processor and blend together. Mix in half of the corn, the salt, honey and lime juice and blend again.

In a small bowl, toss together the remaining corn, Fresno peppers, jicama and mint.

Toss the prawns with approximately quarter cup of the augmented paprika chile oil (depending on the size of your prawns) so they are wet but not dripping. Grill over medium heat for about four minutes a side, enough to cook through and get a little char.

To serve, place the jicama mixture in the center of a large serving bowl and pour the gazpacho around it. Place the shrimp on top of the jicama mixture in the center of the bowl. Serve chilled.

You’ll end up with more of the paprika chile oil than you’ll need for this recipe, but it’s a great flavoring oil to have around! We use it at Bennett’s on our Mushroom Tart and with our Curry Mussels (when we serve them). If you come up with some other great uses for it, let us know in the comments!

Shrimp & Grits, Part 2: Extreme Andouille Edition

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, this week's special at Bennett's focused around the classic southern comfort food Shrimp & Grits. I wanted to build it into something a little bit more complex, but still really heartwarming.  We made a special shrimp stock just for this recipe, as well as a house-made andouille sausage. I won't go into how we made the sausage here, but you can certainly substitute your favorite local butcher's andouille or chorizo instead.  Uli's Famouse Sausage in Pike Place Market is a great option if you're in downtown Seattle; just make sure to get it in bulk form. Sometimes when andouille is in its casing it can be a little harder than you'll want for this recipe. The other alternative is to just slice open the casing of the sausage and use the interior meat.

Makes 4 servings

Paprika-Prawn Olio
16 shrimp (about 1 lb)
1 small leek, rough chopped
1 bunch celery, rough chopped
1 red bell pepper, rough chopped
3 cloves garlic, diced
10 cups water, divided
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup white flour
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp granulated garlic

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt




New Orleans Vegetable Mix
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 jalapeno
1 1/3 Tbsp canola oil, divided
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped

1 cup grits

4 oz Smoked Flagship, grated (about 1 cup)

8 oz andouille sausage


Directions:

For the paprika-prawn olio, start by cleaning the shrimp, reserving the shells but leaving the tails on. Combine the leeks, half of the celery, half the red pepper and the garlic with the shrimp shells in a large pot. Fill the pot with water just until it reaches the top of the shells (depending on the pot, probably about 6 cups). Bring this to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Strain the mixture, discarding the solids and reserving the broth.
Combine the butter and flour in a pot and mix over medium heat to make a thin roux. Add the shrimp broth and stir in the tomato paste, oregano, smoked paprika, red wine vinegar, Old Bay, black pepper and granulated garlic.  Add half of the cayenne pepper and half of the salt. Check the taste of the paprika-prawn olio and add the additional cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Reserve.

To make the New Orleans Vegetable Mix, combine the yellow and green bell peppers, red onion, jalapeno, and the remaining bell peppers and celery. Sautée the mixture in a medium-size pan over medium heat with 2 teaspoons of canola oil.  Sautée for 1 minute 30 seconds and add the parsley. Finish sautéeing for another 30 seconds. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.


Boil the remaining water (about 4 cups) in a saucepan with a teaspoon of salt, and slowly stir in the grits. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook for four minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the cheese and cook until the grits have reached your desired consistency and the cheese has melted(about 1 to 2 additional minutes). A little “texture” is preferable. Reserve.

Break sausage into small 1-inch rounds, place them on a wax papered sheet pan and roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Reserve.


Sautée the shrimp in a sautee pan in remaining canola oil over medium heat, just enough to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the roasted andouille for 10 seconds and then remove from heat and toss in the pan.

To serve, plate the grits in the middle of the plate with the vegetable mixture along one side and the sausage along the other. Place four shrimp on the grits just over the sausage, leaving a nice space of white where the grits show between the vegetables and the shrimp. Pour the paprika-prawn olio around the edge of the food to make a consistent pool of sauce.

Note: There are a lot of things you can play around with in this recipe. Increase the heat with more jalapeno (or decrease it with less), how creamy you like your grits, how creamy you like the paprika-prawn olio, etc. If you want to boost the seafood flavor of the shrimp stock, try adding a little clam juice. Shrimp and grits is one of those dishes that have as many different versions as there are families. Tell me if you try this recipe, or what your favorite version of it is!

Prawn & Rockfish Pasta Verde

I know what you're thinking. When you read "Pasta Verde," you think, "Oh, jeez, not another chef talking about how great tomatillos are." And although I do like tomatillos, there are none in this recipe.

Like last week's asparagus soup, the verde sauce for this recipe was inspired by the bounty of vegetables in the produce crate delivered to our house. This time, cucumbers were abundant and the sun was (finally) peeking out, getting me in the mood for a crisply flavored, summertime type of dish. To see the weekly process of how I put together a dish over the course of the day, check out my facebook page. Every Wednesday is dedicated to a new special for Bennett's Pure Food Bistro or one the Pasta & Co.'s.

Now, I think cucumbers are shamefully underrated. Not only do people misattribute them to the vegetable family, they're often left only with the mild supporting roles of slices to dip in tzatziki or as a salad component. Even more so, when they are used, they're stripped of their most interesting and nutritional part - the skin. Usually peeled off, the skin of the cucumber holds the majority of the fiber, vitamin A and Vitamin C of this clean-flavored relative of the squash. If that weren't enough to encourage you to use a bit more of the skin, it also adds a tannic complexity to the flavor that is completely lost without it. 





If you'd like a great article
about cucumbers check out
gapersblock.com blog post.

Of course, the problem with leaving the skin on is that most cucumbers you find in the store (with the exception of English cucumbers) are coated in wax that is difficult to remove. I mean, sure, I like candles as much as the next guy, but they don't belong in my food. So to keep that tannic flavor element and all those good nutrients, I soak the cucumbers in almost hot water and then scrub the squash with a brush to remove all that unwanted wax.

Now that your cucumbers are wax-free and flavorfully liberated, let's head into this week's recipe.

Makes six entrees.

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh vermicelli, capellini or 2/3 lb dried
2 cucumbers, soaked in hot water to remove wax,
               cut into 1-inch pieces
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp. olive oil
½ cup rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp Old Bay
1 Tbsp. plus ½ tsp. Kosher salt
1 ½ tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 very large yellow onion, chopped
1 ½ lb rockfish

1 ½ lb prawns
4 shallots, sliced and separated into rings
3-4 Tbsp. cornstarch for dusting shallots and rockfish
Salt & Pepper to taste for fish and shallots
Canola oil for sautéing and cooking shallots
1 bunch spinach leaves, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Fill a large pot with salted water and bring to a boil. Get the pasta ready to cook but hold off until you are ready to assemble the dish. Cook the pasta until al dente.

Combine cucumber and jalapenos with 1/3 cup olive oil, rice vinegar, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon Old Bay, 1 tablespoon kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a food processor and purée until it is the texture of thick salsa. Set aside.

Toss the onion in the remaining olive oil with ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon ground pepper. Spread the onions out on a baking sheet and roast in the oven until they are slightly soft and barely crisped at the corners, about 15 minutes. Set aside.

Toss the shallots with 1 tablespoon cornstarch, salt and pepper and fry in canola oil until crispy and golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined dish. Set aside.

Cut the rockfish into six four-ounce portions. Season with salt and pepper and dust lightly with cornstarch. Heat oil in a large sauté pan over high heat until shimmering (before it smokes), place the rockfish pieces in the pan and cook until golden brown. Turn the fish over and cook for one minute on the other side, remove from pan .

Season the prawns with the remaining 1 teaspoon of Old Bay. In the same pan used for the rockfish, cook the prawns on one side until the edges are pink, turn over and cook briefly until the very center is opaque. Remove from the pan.

Cook the pasta according to package instructions.     

Using the same pan again, toss the pasta with the onions and cucumber sauce. Cook over high heat, add the spinach and toss to combine. Cook until the spinach has wilted.

To serve, portion the pasta mixture onto plates. Top with a portion of rockfish, a few prawns and a mound of fried shallots.

The result is a fresh tasting pasta that is light and healthy with that signature clean flavor of cucumber that pairs really well with blue sky and sunshine. Bennett's  (whose patio has been opened up a couple times already this season) will be serving this special through the weekend, until it runs out. So, stop by the restaurant to try it out (and fall in love with it) and then have the recipe at home for when you're craving it again!

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next week (or earlier on facebook or twitter)