Flashback Friday - Green Tomato Relish

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on July 23, 2013.

We've planted tomatoes in containers for several years now. The smaller, miniature varieties grow like gangbusters, but the full-sized fruits are always a disappointment. This year, we put in a raised bed garden and planted it with several types of large tomatoes. They're growing well - yay! But not wanting to have more ripe tomatoes than we can handle at one time, I've been culling them while green. There's only so many times one feels like fussing with fried green tomatoes, so I wanted to do something different. Easier. I thought maybe a green tomato relish could be interesting, but when I looked for recipes on the Web, all I found were supersweet versions that would be best used on a hot dog. I wanted something far more subtle, something slightly sweet, slightly tangy, and not at all pickle-tasting.

Basically, I chopped my green tomatoes, added a bare minimum of seasoning, and was pretty satisfied with that. I served it over pan-seared salmon and barley "Alfredo." (Prepare a package of quick cooking barley, drain and add a big blob of butter, a couple tablespoons of heavy cream, and a handful of grated Parmesan cheese. Stir well, season to taste.)

Green Tomato Relish

olive oil
3 green tomatoes, cut in small dice
1 tablespoon diced onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
salt, pepper, hot sauce to taste

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add tomatoes and onion. Cook for a minute or so, then add the garlic. Stir frequently for another minute, then add the brown sugar and vinegar. Season with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and hot sauce (I like Tabasco's green jalapeno sauce for this) to taste. If you feel the tomatoes need more sugar or vinegar, then add to taste. Cook for another minute or so. The tomatoes should still be somewhat crisp.

Store in the refrigerator in a covered jar until ready to use.



Posted on Minxeats.com.




Posted on Minxeats.com.

Green Tomato Relish

We've planted tomatoes in containers for several years now. The smaller, miniature varieties grow like gangbusters, but the full-sized fruits are always a disappointment. This year, we put in a raised bed garden and planted it with several types of large tomatoes. They're growing well - yay! But not wanting to have more ripe tomatoes than we can handle at one time, I've been culling them while green. There's only so many times one feels like fussing with fried green tomatoes, so I wanted to do something different. Easier. I thought maybe a green tomato relish could be interesting, but when I looked for recipes on the Web, all I found were supersweet versions that would be best used on a hot dog. I wanted something far more subtle, something slightly sweet, slightly tangy, and not at all pickle-tasting.

Basically, I chopped my green tomatoes, added a bare minimum of seasoning, and was pretty satisfied with that. I served it over pan-seared salmon and barley "Alfredo." (Prepare a package of quick cooking barley, drain and add a big blob of butter, a couple tablespoons of heavy cream, and a handful of grated Parmesan cheese. Stir well, season to taste.)

Green Tomato Relish

olive oil
3 green tomatoes, cut in small dice
1 tablespoon diced onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
salt, pepper, hot sauce to taste

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add tomatoes and onion. Cook for a minute or so, then add the garlic. Stir frequently for another minute, then add the brown sugar and vinegar. Season with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and hot sauce (I like Tabasco's green jalapeno sauce for this) to taste. If you feel the tomatoes need more sugar or vinegar, then add to taste. Cook for another minute or so. The tomatoes should still be somewhat crisp.

Store in the refrigerator in a covered jar until ready to use.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Sous Vide Lamb with Lemony Tomato Pepper Relish

We're on a roll at Casa Minx! After successfully making salmon in the Sous Vide Supreme, we tried some meat! Nothing fancy, just some lamb shoulder on the bone. It was cheap--if it got messed up somehow, there'd be no great investment lost--and Ms Minx was feeling vaguely Moroccan; lamb would go perfectly with her tomato and pepper relish accented with preserved lemon.

The meat was cooked to medium and then given a quick turn in the broiler. It wasn't as tender as expected, but it was certainly easy, and apart from throwing out a piece of foil, cleanup was quick. That's a real benefit to using the Sous Vide Supreme - no roasting pans or pots to scrub!

Sous Vide Lamb

1.5 lbs lamb shoulder steaks (may also use leg meat, cut into slabs 3/4" - 1" thick)
2 cloves garlic
pinch smoked paprika
salt and pepper
canola oil

Pat lamb pieces dry and place in a large sous vide bag. Add garlic, sprinkle with paprika, salt, and pepper. Vacuum seal bag and hold in refrigerator until ready to cook. Preheat Sous Vide Supreme to 120F/49C for rare, 134F/56.5C for medium rare, 140F/60C for medium. (If you want the meat more well done, there's no reason at all to deal with sous vide. Merely overcook it using your favorite method.) Submerge bag of lamb and cook in the water bath for 2 hours and up to 4 hours.

Lamb right out of the vacuum bag. Notice that it's a nice medium pink.

Preheat broiler. Remove lamb from plastic bag and place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil on one side for 2-3 minutes until browned.

Serve with Lemony Tomato Pepper Relish and orzotto. Serves 2-6, depending on the proportion of bone to meat in your lamb.

Lemony Tomato Pepper Relish

1 red, yellow, or orange bell pepper
3/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, cut into strips
1/2 sweet onion, cut into very thin slices
olive oil
salt
1 small clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup preserved lemon, very finely chopped (or, the flesh and finely minced zest of half a fresh lemon)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ancho chile pepper
1 teaspoon aleppo pepper
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons agave syrup or honey (or to taste)
salt and pepper

Roast bell pepper over an open flame to char the skin all over. Put pepper in a paper bag and set aside to cool. When cool, rub off skin, remove seeds and stem, and dice flesh. Set aside.

Put sun dried tomatoes in a small saucepan with about half a cup of water (more if tomatoes are very dry). Bring to a boil then lower heat. Simmer until tomatoes are soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow tomatoes to come to room temperature. Drain off any excess liquid and process tomatoes to a paste in a food pro or mini prep. Set aside.

Cook onion in a splash of olive oil and a pinch of salt over low heat until very soft and slightly caramelized, about 20 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook an additional 2 minutes. Add sundried tomato paste, preserved lemon, paprika, ancho, and aleppo pepper and stir well to combine. Stir in vinegar and agave syrup and taste for seasoning. You don't want the condiment to be sweet or sour, but the flavors should be balanced. Season to taste with salt and pepper, remove from heat, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Korean-style BBQ Chicken Wraps

Most of my Internet surfing these days revolves around my favorite topic: food. I read food blogs, recipe sites, search for recipe contests, etc. On most days, I try to look through the food photos at Photograzing, an offshoot of Serious Eats, for inspiration for my home cooking. One day, I was struck by photos of a vivid red Korean-style preparation called Pineapple Dak Bulgogi, which uses pineapple as a tenderizing agent in the marinade. The creator not only ate his bulgogi on rice, he also did interesting cross-cultural things like use it as a filling for burritos and tacos.

After reading the recipe, I determined that I wanted to try it but only after an issue was resolved.

Korean cooks use Asian pear in their bulgogi marinades for tenderizing, but adding sweetness is just as an important role for the fruit. And while its juice is somewhat acidic, its tenderizing ability is nothing compared to a protein-digesting enzyme like the bromelain found in pineapple. Left in contact with bromelain for more than a short time, meat proteins can break down and get unpleasantly mushy - I know this from experience. (Never marinate shrimp in pineapple juice for more time than it takes to read this sentence - tears may ensue.) The Pineapple Duk Bulgogi recipe calls for a half hour of marination, and if you've got such control of your time, then that's probably fine, but suppose you get an urgent phone call, or have to leave the house for any length of time? Sadly, your chicken will probably be ruined.

And face it, chicken doesn't need tenderizing. The original recipe calls for breast meat, which cooks very quickly. My solution to the problem: take the pineapple out of the marinade. Another change: because I'm not a fan of the BSCB (boneless skinless chicken breast), I used thighs because they are more flavorful and don't suffer when overcooked.

As for the pineapple, I did use it, but in a different component of the dish - as a sweet relish with some herbs from our garden.

Because I liked the idea of a bulgogi burrito, I wrapped my chicken in a whole-wheat flatbread along with the pineapple relish and some really fast kimchee (faster and less-powerfully garlicky than the one I made last month). The flavors went together beautifully, with the brightness and herbiness of the pineapple cutting some of the heat from the chicken, and the kimchi just making it all more flavorful.

Korean-style BBQ Chicken Wraps with Pineapple Relish and Quick and Dirty Kimchi

Korean-style BBQ Chicken
1/2 cup gochujang (Korean hot pepper bean paste)
3 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely minced
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 green onions, both white and green parts chopped
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs, thinly sliced

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except chicken, stirring well to dissolve sugar. Add chicken. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour and up to overnight.

When ready to cook, pour everything into a hot sauté pan and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Turn heat down to medium, cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through, 15-20 minutes. If  you use chicken breasts, cut the cooking time by about half.

Pineapple Relish
1 cup fresh pineapple, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon sugar
6-10 basil leaves, depending on the type and size of basil you use (I used Thai)
6 large mint leaves
finely grated zest of half a lime

Over medium-high heat, sauté pineapple in butter and sugar until fruit begins to brown slightly. Remove to a bowl and toss with mint, basil, and lime zest. Serve warm.

Quick and Dirty Kimchi
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Korean pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon agave syrup
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1.5 cups shredded cabbage

Combine first five ingredients. Add cabbage and stir to coat. Refrigerate for an hour or more to allow flavors to develop.

To assemble:

Flatbreads, tortillas, or lavash
Korean BBQ chicken
Pineapple Relish
Quick Kimchi

Place chicken, relish, and kimchi on one end of the wrapper of your choice. Roll up and eat. Makes 4-6, depending on the size of your wrapper.