Older Bolder Life

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Recipe: Proteins

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Chorizo Number 2 (or Tex Mex Chorizo)

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During these long, dark days of winter (some might argue that’s both a figurative as well as a literal descriptor) we’ve been experimenting a bit once again with making sausages of various types and flavors in the kitchen at home.

There are a host of reasons to do so, including absolute control of sausage ingredients (quality and flavors), economics, curiosity, it just being damned fun when you’re in the mood, among others.

In a quick aside, if you’re not grinding meat at home, consider picking up an inexpensive home grinder (the one imaged here ran us about $70 a couple of years ago); it won’t be powerful enough to process the three elk you and your buddies harvested this year, but for routine, lighter-end home use, these little guys are easy to store, set up, and clean.

To prove the point, when making this batch of chorizo, I ground a 12-lb boneless pork shoulder, including set up and cleaning, in less than 25 minutes (not counting about 75 minutes in the freezer to tighten up the meat before grinding).

We happen to like really well made and flavored chorizo now and again, and I’ve written about it before here on the blog (excerpt below) –

…Having spent many a year growing up (and schooling) here in the Lone Star state, we’ve been fans of good chorizo around our camp for some time, having fiddled with chorizo recipes off and on now for well over a decade.

Sourcing good chorizo can be a challenge in that many if not most of the commercially prepared and marketed versions (of bulk chorizo, not the cured Spanish version) are incredibly greasy and contain parts of critters that you’d never ponder eating if you really knew they had been tossed in the grinder…

…And like most comfort foods prepared with care and attention, using the freshest ingredients, this version of chorizo is very likely nothing like you’ve tasted before and much more akin to the artisanal sausages (think Bruce Adell’s) you’ve thrown on the grill.  Even better, this one is child’s play simple, and you can tinker with spices to make you and your clan happy…

Here’s another chorizo recipe that we’ve come to adopt as our main go to, given the depth of flavors that come from roasting actual dried chiles for the spice base; around our camp we call this one our Tex Mex Chorizo (or Chorizo Number 2). The chiles add an amazing depth of flavor, and we find the hints of cinnamon, allspice, and cloves add interest and bit of nuance that’s very, very tasty.

As with all sausages you craft at home, this one can be formed into patties, crumbled, or even stuff into casings; we usually freeze in smallish patties and crumble if needed (like for next weeks loaded huevos rancheros.

2 pounds ground pork
6-7 dried guajillo chiles, cleaned, seeded, and stemmed
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, diced small
1/3 cup apple cider or red wine vinegar (try it with both)
1 tbsp salt
1-2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp cinnamon, optional
1/4 tsp allspice, optional
1/4 tsp ground cloves, optional

To get started, toast the chiles in a hot, dry skillet until puffed and fragrant (won’t take long); add enough water to cover chiles and set aside for 30-40 minutes.

When softened, place the chiles, onion, garlic and vinegar in your trusty blender or food processor and blend until smooth; you may need to add either additional vinegar or some of the chile soaking liquid if too thick (think tomato sauce).

Now let’s make some chorizo; place the ground pork in a mixing bowl, add the chile paste and the rest of the ingredients. Mix well, and this is probably best done with your hands. The first time you make this chorizo, fry up a tablespoon or two in a skillet to check the spices and adjust to suit you.

Cook this anyway you please – fry it up loose for breakfast tacos, add in some goodies (poblanos and mushrooms in the image below for a loaded huevos rancheros), shape into patties for the stovetop or grill or even stuff into casings. This recipe freezes like a charm, though we’ve found it’s best to shape in to patties before freezing.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Hasselback Chicken with Feta, Red Peppers, and Olives

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As we’ve moved into the New Year my wife and I had resolved to work harder to find a reasonably-priced source of pastured chicken; pasture raised chicken is a bit harder to find via our local farmers markets, and it’s often damned pricey when purchased via the biggest online purveyors.

We found a regional provider after digging around a bit (a full review is upcoming) and have of late been experimenting a bit with different ways to prepare chicken breasts, which as we call know, can be a bit dry and chewy if overcooked.

Don’t get me wrong, we love well-prepared chicken of all sorts, and have our favorite grilled chicken down to a perfected routine, and can get delectable results every time on the grill after a short sous vide par-cook.

That said, for most of us around the country, easy access to grilling outside doesn’t present itself often during the month of January, and I’ve been experimenting with a few new oven-roasted chicken recipes of late – including this Hasselback Chicken with Feta, Red Peppers, and Olives.

The “hasselback” trend is perhaps a bit long in the tooth these days, though I have to admit we still roast a fair amount of vegetables that way and still see it offered on menus here and there.

After playing around with some fairly classic roasted stuffed chicken breast recipes, Chef Libby in Austin recently mentioned that she’s been serving a Tex Mex version of today’s recipe (for another day here on the blog) for catering gigs in Austin, and the proverbial light bulb went off to try this one with feta, roasted red peppers, and good Kalamata olives.

The hasselback concept with chicken breasts allows you to add more flavorful stuffing “goodies” to each chicken breast and is a breeze to do – just don’t cut all the way through the breasts when you’re slicing each one.

These are great one their own, and we’ve served with a simple marinara-type sauce, tzatziki, and even a spicy Columbian guacamole at different times and it plays well every time. This recipe calls for roasting in the oven, though they’d be great on a Traeger type smoker or even grilled (over the low heat side of a two-zoned fire).

By the way, adding a couple of tablespoons of chopped roasted pine nuts to the feta mixture plays very well too.

6 boneless, skinless, free-range chicken breasts
3/4 cup crumbled full fat feta cheese
3/4 cup roasted red peppers, diced small
3/4 cup thinly sliced kalamata olives, divided
Good salt and pepper
1 tbsp good paprika
1/2 cup or more grated/shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup basil leaves, at least half in chiffonade

Fire the oven to 350, line a baking sheet with parchment.

Crumble the feta into a bowl, add the diced red peppers, and half the sliced olives; stir to combine and set aside.

Take each chicken breast and slice 6-8 slits across the breast (perpendicular to the long edge), roughly 3/4 of the way through the breast meat (don’t cut all the way through); your slices will be roughly 1/2-inch apart. Now stuff a bit of the feta mixture into each slit.

Place the stuffed chicken breasts on your baking sheet, generously season with good salt and freshly ground pepper, then dust with the paprika. Finally equally divide the shredded Mozzarella among the chicken breasts, sprinkling on top.

Bake the chicken for 20-22 minutes until firm and cooked through; you can optionally turn on the broiler for the final 2-3 minutes of the cook to brown the cheese further if you’d prefer.

Let rest for 2-3 minutes and serve hot, sprinkled with the remaining sliced olives and basil chiffonade.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: A Simple Chicken Adobo

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Some years back during our time in Salt Lake City, we befriended a couple from the Philippines. We met outside of the work world, though ironically they were (also) both physicians working in primary care at the time (we happened to meet through a service organization we all worked to support.)

He was the proverbial bull in the china shop – energetic, hard-charging, occasionally uttering thoughts out loud before thinking things through, and highly opinionated; she was shy, quick to smile, a peacemaker (perhaps often out of necessity given her spouse’s inclinations), and an utterly delightful person.

We became friends initially through a common interest in the organization that spawned our meeting, later through fly fishing and raising young families, but mainly through a shared love of great food.

They were fascinated by our bent toward spicy foods of the American Southwest and classic Tex Mex flavors, and we grew to love their Filipino classics, like this Simple Chicken Adobo.

They both described learning the dish watching mothers and grandmothers working in their kitchens while growing up. Interestingly this couple grew up in different regions of the Philippines, and as is typical of regional recipes that develop over time, they each had a slightly different version. Her family always added brown sugar, his didn’t; his added peppers (jalapeños or serranos), her’s didn’t.

Both learned the recipe using regional cane vinegars in the Philippines; you’ll see recipes for chicken adobo recommending any and all sorts of vinegars online these days, though it seems most call for cane vinegar or simple white vinegar. We’ve made it with all sorts of vinegars, most often reaching for cane vinegar, unseasoned rice vinegar, or plain-Jane white vinegar, though even apple cider vinegar works in a pinch.

A quick, important side point related to the preceding paragraphs: NEVER let anyone tell you how you should cook your food or that your recipe passed down through your family isn’t authentic in some way – you’re cooking to suit your palate and that of your family’s, not that of some pedantic ass online.

We’ve chosen over the years to incorporate both of their family spins on this recipe, and find that a bit of brown sugar and sliced peppers make this a better dish.

One final note, we whole-heartedly agree with those who argue that you should reduce the sauce here down to a glaze like consistency at the end; it’s amazingly tasty over the chicken and a garlic rice / garlic cauliflower rice…

Chicken thighs or drumsticks, 2 lb
Good salt and fresh ground pepper
1 T avocado oil

3/4 cup cane or white vinegar (see above)
3/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
6-8 garlic cloves, crushed
2 T brown sugar
1 T black peppercorns (or 1 t ground pepper)
2-3 bay leaves
1-2 jalapeños, thinly sliced

Season the chicken with salt and pepper to taste, then sauté in your favorite large skillet over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes per side until browned (you’re not attempting to cook the chicken through now). Remove the chicken.

Now into the skillet goes the vinegar, soy sauce or tamari, crushed garlic, brown sugar, peppercorns, bay leaves, and half the jalapeños; stir to dissolve the sugar and bring to a low boil. Add the chicken back to the pan (skin side up if using skin-on), reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, cover, and cook for 30-40 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. You want your chicken tender but not falling apart; remember to turn the chicken once during this cooking interval.

Pull the chicken and turn up the heat to reduce the sauce to a glaze consistency (add a teaspoon of cornstarch dissolved in water if you want your sauce thicker), then add the chicken back.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Grilled Tacos al Pastor

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Working from the premise that my clan hasn’t really met a taco they didn’t like, over the past couple of months we’ve been on a(n) (intermittent) quest to perfect a recipe for Tacos al Pastor.

This culinary journey started after a trip to see family in San Antonio and a venture downtown to a friend’s favorite hole-in-the-wall eatery where we enjoyed an ambrosial taco feast lunch one still-too-damn-hot early October afternoon.

My lovely wife was particularly taken with the Tacos al Pastor, roughly translated “shepherd style”, which prompted a bevy of research including a couple of focused chats with friend Chef Libby in Austin, who like us resonates mightily with the chile-infused flavor palate of the American Southwest and Mexico.

She reminded me of the history involved here – what most of us refer to as tacos al pastor is loosely based on the lamb shawarma that Lebanese immigrants brought to Mexico during the 18th century. History authorities suggest these immigrants were mainly Christians (i.e. the Maronites) who had no religious dietary restrictions regarding pork consumption, and of course brought with them an affinity for shawarma from back home.

Food historians suggests that as they and their progeny began to adopt culinary influences from Mexico, and with the eventual advent of a more widespread Mexican restaurant industry in the 1960s, the taco al pastor we know today was born.

In it’s most classic form, tacos al pastor has traditionally featured pork marinated in a slather based on dried chiles, pineapple, onion, achiote paste, and a handful of different spices, then stacked and cooked on a rotating spit, eventually being sliced off in a fashion akin to gyros from Greek cuisine, providing a perfect crust and tender underlying meat in every morsel.

Of course there are regional variations today, and most of us – and many restaurants / street vendors – don’t have a rotating spit available to prepare our tacos al pastor.

This recipe is one that Libby has crafted to suit the palates of her staff and clients in Austin, a place with a fairly solid understanding of tacos (understatement of the year), certainly from a Tex Mex perspective. The beauty of recipes like this one is you can certainly vary the chile profile to suit your own tastes (for example, I think this is better with 2-3 dried chipotles thrown in, along with a bit of cumin), and this one finishes really well right on your trusty grill over a slow fire.

For those who indulge in the occasional classic corn-based taco, these are divine with the Quick Grilled Pineapple Habanero Salsa from last week, and they’re damned good on one of the gluten free tortillas available today (we still favor the Siete brand around our campfire).

Pro Tip: Trim most of but not all of the fat off the pork shoulder, you want some of that fat to render down as you cook these low and slow over your fire.

3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, sliced roughly 3/4-inch thick

10 guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
3 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
2-3 chiles de arbol, stemmed and seeded
2-3 dried chipotle chiles, stemmed and seeded, optional

1/2 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, roughly chopped
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
8 garlic cloves, peeled
1 cup distilled white vinegar
3 tbsp achiote paste
3 ounces kosher salt
1 tbsp ground cumin
Optional: 2-4 tbsp sugar in marinade

Gluten free or corn tortillas if you’re going full out taco

Prep the pork and set aside.

Bring 2 cups of water to a gentle; pour over the prepped chiles in a bowl, cover, set aside to steam and soak for 30 minutes.

Now puree the chiles and soaking liquid, chopped pineapple, chopped onion, garlic cloves, vinegar, achiote paste, sugar if using, and the salt until smooth; pour over the pork, making sure each slice of pork is coated. Cover and chill overnight (at least 6 hours).

Fire the grill; build a two-zone fire if using live fire or set your trusty gas grill to low.

Remove the pork slices from the marinade, gently shake off excess marinade, and slowly grill until the marinade is caramelized and slightly charred on each side and the pork is just cooked through, 9-11 minutes per side (remember, this is over a slow/low fire).

Pull the pork, let it rest for 7 to 10 minutes, when slice against the grain into 1/4-inch strips; build your tacos and top with the Grilled Pineapple Habanero Salsa from last week.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Roasted Turkey Stock

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This past week thousands of home cooks across the fruited plain made turkey stock using their favorite recipes; we’ve been doing that thing in our own kitchen literally for decades after Thanksgiving and other turkey feasts, in part to fulfill a tradition we have of making a turkey bone gumbo sometime during the post-holiday festivities.

Well over a decade ago, during our stint in Kalispell (Northwest Montana) running a horse farm, training barn, and show facility (and practicing medicine at the time) I met a guy we named Bib and learned how to up our turkey stock game with his easy technique anyone can master at home.

I wrote about Bib back a few years ago on our fly fishing blog Chi Wulff; here’s an excerpt from that post (and please note the recipe posted at the link was one we used before adopting a Primal nutrition plan)…

Back a few years ago, when the family was living up in the Flathead north of Kalispell, I met a guy nicknamed Bib who lived in a nearby community.

Bib wanted to be a horseman and a welder when he grew up; unfortunately a wayward youth and some very poor decision making led him down the path to becoming an ENT (ear, nose and throat physician), in truth a damned good one.

He forever had a project pony or two that he was working with and dragging around in a beat up two horse trailer pulled by his dilapidated flatbed pickup with the rusty welder-generator unit in back. And yes, he was almost always wearing his trademark bib overalls, even now and again in the hospital.

He was unceasingly late to meetings, swore like a true cowboy and earned his weathered Montana patina the hard way – cutting hay under the endless summer skies and feeding stock year round no matter how cold the wind was blowing.

Of course he could bullshit the feathers off a chicken too.

Bib fly fished a bit though lacked the patience to fish well when things were slow; he’d get fidgety and demand to row, though he’d inevitably get distracted by something and run the boat under a sweeper or right down the lane we’d be trying to fish.

Bib had done part of his training at the infamous Charity Hospital in New Orleans, way back in the day before LSU took it over, and while no doubt he was truly a fish out of water in that setting, he loved his time ‘on the bayou’.

It was there that he learned to make a tried and true roux-based gumbo and he always swore that a roasted turkey carcass made the best gumbo broth. He’d even get friends to save turkey bones for him and he’d round them up, spray with a little olive oil and roast in a 325 degree oven for an hour or so until they were a rich, dark brown. Then into the stock pot they’d go….

He’d then serve his Roasted Turkey Bone Gumbo at a party during the holidays out in his barn; it was a grand time.

(I can hear the scoffs and snickers from the city crowd about folks still having parties in the barn. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. And leave your freakin’ Italian driving moccasins at home.)

This recipe is so danged simple, I’ll just remind you of a few key things to remember in narrative form below.

When making any kind of stock now – turkey, chicken, beef, or vegetable – we take the simple additional step of roasting the bones or veg (in this case the turkey carcass) after a quick spritz with olive or avocado oil in a 375 degree oven for an hour or so until they’re dark and wonderfully aromatic.

That done, we typically drop the roasted carcass in a suitable stock pot, add the aromatics we have on hand, at minimum celery – be sure and include the damned tasty celery leaves from the inner stalks, a large onion – halved, a carrot or two, 4 or 5 peeled garlic cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns, and a sprig or two of fresh thyme (our favorite with turkey) or parsley.

You then simply cover the assembled ingredients with water, bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then reduce the heat to keep things just simmering until it’s golden brown and richly scented (I typically leave mine on for 3 hours or so). Skim any fat or foam you see.

Strain through a fine mesh strainer (discarding the solids), cool, then throw in the fridge to chill completely (you can remove the fat layer that accumulates in the fridge if you wish). If I’ve made a big batch, I’ll often freeze in 1 quart blocks to have a supply of great stock on hand at all times.

This recipe is so simple to do even a kid could manage this one; we do it reflexly now after roasting or grilling chicken or turkey just about every time.

There are two additional optional steps that Chef Libby reminded me about when discussing this recipe a few days ago, both options add a bit of deeper color and richness to your stock.

One option is to brown your vegetables in the stock pot in a bit of oil before adding the roasted carcass and water; you’re just after a bit of caramelization here. The second option is to add a tablespoon or two of a really good tomato paste to the stock as it cooks down; we love this option when I’m getting stock ready to make tortilla soup or posole when the call for deep Southwestern flavors is over-whelming. By the way, the stock in these images was made by simply roasting the turkey carcass only – not the veg, and I didn’t add tomato paste to this recipe either.

Save those turkey and chicken bones every time…

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 27 November: Green Chile Turkey Hash

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Today is turkey leftover day for many of us across the fruited plains, and I’ll once again argue that the best thing about cooking a big bird for Thanksgiving is whipping up a great turkey hash sometime before the best leftovers run out.

There are a lot of great turkey hash recipes out there, including one I posted a couple of years ago – Ed’s Kitchen Sink Turkey Hash. Here’s part of the introduction to that recipe…

We have a good friend, Ed, who’s been something of a family icon now for over a decade. He’s been a continual font of inspiration and wisdom, a mentor, a business partner, and even an occasional pain-in-the-ass for most of those years.

Ed loves good food almost as much as we do, though you’d never know to look at him. His thin, fit build looks like that of a fifty-something runner, which is somewhat amazing as he’s in his mid-80’s (he constantly lies about his age, so we don’t know the genuine number). He’s sharp as a tack, more active than most men half his age, and was eating LC/MP/HF long before most of us had heard a whisper of the concept.

Back in 2016, Ed pestered us to help him come up with a “turkey hash recipe that he’d really like”; the final result was this Ed’s Kitchen Sink Turkey Hash, built on the foundation of spicy sausage with a big pile of fairly traditional hash vegetables thrown in. By the way, the poblano adds a nice bit of heat and flavor and the sweet potatoes tie in with the whole Thanksgiving theme, as does the fresh sage…

This year I’ve been chatting more and more often lately with our friend Chef Libby in Austin and we’ve both been playing with various recipes for spicing up the turkey hash game; we both think this Green Chile Turkey Hash is game changer, at least to our Southwestern-oriented palates.

The recipe makes a few key changes from our Kitchen Sink version: a bit of crispy bacon is rendered first, then the onions with a heavy hit of diced poblanos, sweet potatoes, garlic, and a spice package right out of San Antonio and Santa Fe, along with an impressive amount of roasted and diced green chiles. We think it needs a couple of hits of cilantro (cooked in and fresh at service), but sub parsley if you’re not a cilantro fan.

As before, just in cash you’re not a “hash expert”, one of the critical steps for this recipe is the repeated compress, crisp, and turn of the mixture to get crispy, browned, caramelized edges in every bite. Be patient; keep turning and crisping until it suits you; it does take a bit of time if your skillet’s full. The browner and crisper the better…

Libby prefers to prefers to crisp up her sweet potatoes in a bit of butter and avocado oil first thing; she argues that it helps them hold their shape better and provides a bit more tooth to the final hash – we’ve adopted her approach and agree, though you don’t have to do this extra quick step (as the recipe below reflects).

And finally, the soft poached or fried eggs aren’t really necessary, but the runny yolks are magical. And Ed still insists that this be drizzled with hollandaise sauce; Libby drizzles a chipotle hollandaise over hers.

1/3 lb good bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large sweet onion, chopped medium
1 medium red onion, chopped medium
2 poblano chile peppers, stemmed, seeded, chopped medium
1-2 jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded, chopped fine
1 large sweet potato, partially precooked (firm), cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
4-5 tbsp good butter

1 lb turkey, white and dark meat, chopped to 1/2 inch or so pieces
1 cup roasted green chiles, small dice

1/3 to 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems, chopped, divided
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground chile powder, I prefer a dark ancho powder
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1-2 tsp good salt
1-2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Optional
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, chopped medium
4-6 eggs, poached or fried, with soft yolk
Hollandaise sauce if Ed’s coming over, or this Green Chile sauce

Prep the vegetables and dice the bacon.

Sauté the bacon until browned; remove from the skillet to drain and remove all but (roughly) 2 tbsp of the remaining fat.

While the bacon is rendering and making your kitchen smell awesome, combine the ground cumin, chile powder, Mexican oregano, salt, fresh ground pepper, and 1/2 the cilantro; set aside.

Melt 4 tbsp. of the butter over medium-high heat in the same skillet; add both onions, all the peppers, the sweet potato, garlic, and roughly half the spice mixture. Cook, stirring now and again, until the onions and pepper begin to soften.

Now add another tbsp. of butter, the turkey, cooked bacon, roasted green chiles and the rest of the spice mixture; stir to mix well.

Up your hash game by crisping it up. Smooth the mixture in the skillet out and gently compress it; raise the heat a notch and don’t touch it for 3 minutes or so to let a crispy-crunchy layer of caramelization develop. Then, turn that brown, crunchy bottom over and mix into the upper hash layers. Compress the mixture again and repeat at least two more times – the desired goal here is lots of crunchy, brown goodness.

Serve it right now, topped with a runny-yolk poached or fried egg and drizzled with a spiced up hollandaise if Ed’s coming over, and don’t forget to sprinkle the rest of the cilantro on.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Thanksgiving Friday Feast 2020: Texas Style Recado Turkey

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For millions around the country it’s soon to be turkey time again; and yep, for now, let’s not even think about COVID induced restrictions on your upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

Last year, I posted this damned tasty Ultimate Adobo Turkey recipe, one incredibly delicious – and certainly different from the usual – turkey recipe for your Thanksgiving table. In that post, I wrote about another spicy turkey we’d enjoyed as a family for years…

Years ago (and by that I actually mean several decades ago) there was a small quarterly magazine featuring spicy foods of the American Southwest published out of Albuquerque that we subscribed to.

It was simply titled Chile, in all honestly wasn’t that professionally done, but was packed with great recipes, tips and tricks for growing chiles of all sorts, and a smattering of advertising for all things chile-heads loved back in that day. Sadly, and I’m guessing in part given their laser-sharp focus on spicy foods of the Southwest, the magazine vanished in 2006 or 2007, leaving behind little or no trace of their prior work.

We folded a number of their recipes into our family food lexicon, including one for what they called a recado turkey, which was a turkey rubbed with a vinegar and olive oil based rub, actually more like a slather, rich with toasted and coarsely ground peppers and other big, vibrant spices.

Truth be told, it wasn’t my wife’s favorite turkey preparation – the flavors were pretty bold and could be almost astringent at times – but the kids and I loved it, enough that we’d often do two turkeys (especially if entertaining), one a classic brined and roasted bird, and then our special recado turkey…

Much to my chagrin, that old recado turkey recipe was lost in a move years ago, though with a bit of digging this fall, and some trial and error in our and Chef Libby’s kitchens, we’ve recreated that recipe with a TexMex twist (the addition of the dried New Mexico chiles).

The classic recipe (which Libby assumes was Oaxacoan in origin given the spice and pepper profile) used only dried chilaca chiles (a chile negro here in the States) and chipotles; we think the addition of the New Mexico chiles softens the astringency of the final pepper slather and adds a fruity note.

By the way, the garlic oil adds a wonderful additional flavor, though this works very with avocado or a good olive oil as well.

One caveat worth mentioning: the dried chilaca chiles (the chile negro) are of course more or less black in color, and when applied to your bird, the rub/slather is quite dark. It remains very dark throughout the cooking process, and when you remove your turkey from the oven, it will look burnt, but by no means will it taste burnt. The image below is my most recent recado turkey pre-cook before resting in the fridge overnight.

Finally, when cooking a turkey with a rich, dense slather or rub (like the two mentioned here), we both think using the technique of cutting the bird into pieces pre-roasting works far better for two reasons. One, it allows you to coat each piece more completely (and far more easily), and two, your bird cooks incredibly faster and more evenly. You make the call.

10-12 dried chilaca chiles (chile negro)
8-10 dried New Mexico chiles
2-5 dried chipotle chiles
2 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp Mexican oregano
5 whole cloves
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp distilled white vinegar (ACV in a pinch)
3/8 cup garlic oil (or healthy oil of choice)

Optional: 1-inch piece of cinnamon, crushed

12-14 pound turkey, see comment above

Toast the chiles using your method of choice (skillet, over live fire, or in a 325 degree oven) until fragrant; then stem, seed, and grind to a medium-fine powder in your trusty food processor. Pour into a small bowl.

Using your trusty spice grinder, grind the black peppercorns, cloves, and oregano until finely ground; add to the chile powder bowl.

Now stir in the vinegar, salt, and oil of choice to make a paste; if too thick, add a teaspoon more vinegar and oil as needed to loosen the mixture up. Now coat your turkey with a thin layer of recado paste and let rest uncovered in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

Now roast the turkey according to your routine (and pending whether you’re roasting a whole bird or one cut into pieces as we’ve suggested above); here’s how we do it around our camp.

If using the cut-up bird as I’ve imaged here – preheat the oven to 425, and triple foil line a baking sheet, then place a wire rack on the sheet. Add a cup of water to the sheet, then place the turkey so that the pieces are not touching. Roast for 10 minutes, rotate the pan, then roast another 10 minutes before reducing the heat to 300. Total roasting time for a cut-up bird should be in the range of 75-90 minutes pending its size. You’re looking for an internal breast meat temp of 150 and thigh meat temps of 170 on your trusty instant read thermometer.

Rest for 20-30 minutes before carving and go to it.

Don’t forget to save those recado turkey bones for an amazing turkey broth later.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Grilled Diablo Chicken Margherita

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I was chatting again recently with our chef buddy Libby in Austin a couple of weeks ago and the topic of the migration of her catering menu to her fall rotation came up.

She has a boatload of great ideas (always) and is a magician when it comes to putting together innovative and unique menus; her skills are truly a gift and I stand in awe of her ability to pull things together based on what’s fresh in the market and staying diligently attuned to her clientele in Austin.

Much to my surprise, and her’s as well, one of the most requested menus for her fall events is a Grilled Diablo Chicken Margherita, referenced by most clients as “one like they serve at Olive Garden”.

I had to admit to Libby that we haven’t set foot in an Olive Garden in over a decade, and she responded by saying it’d been even longer for her. (We both had plenty of exposure years ago to the food industry scuttle that OG cooked very little fresh in their kitchens, and they’ve reportedly had a long history of “issues” in the kitchen from a health standpoint. Nuff said.)

Her Grilled Diablo Chicken Margherita has a couple of interesting twists that are ridiculously easy for the home cook to incorporate; after all, who doesn’t like a tender, juicy grilled chicken breast or thigh topped with melted mozzarella and a great pesto?

Living in Austin Libby has a client base that’s tuned in to, and clamors for spicy foods – that’s in part why she and my family resonate so well.

That said, one of her versions of this dish uses a classic Italian seasoning mix (house made of course) with a healthy dose of fresh red pepper flakes thrown in. She tops that with a classic pesto, though she agrees with us that roasting the garlic and pine nuts is essential for a great pesto, and then uses this same tomato/basil/lemon juice relish or topping, the lemon providing a great burst of acidity to the dish. Now and then if good lemons aren’t handy, she’ll use balsamic vinegar as well for the relish.

Her more TexMex version of this recipe features an ancho chile based rub for the chicken with a cilantro pesto – we’ll have that recipe upcoming before too long, as well as recipes for the ancho rub and a great Italian spice mix too.

This recipe comes together quickly, and happens to be one of my wife’s favorite dishes to take to work for a quick lunch these days.

4 boneless chicken breasts
4 chicken thighs
2 tbsp olive or avocado oil
1 tbsp good Italian seasoning mix
1-3 tsp fresh red pepper flakes (optional)
8 slices mozzarella cheese
1/2 to 1 cup fresh basil pesto (try this one)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup basil leaves, chiffonade prep
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Good salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Rub the chicken pieces with your oil of choice and dust with the spice mix and red pepper flakes; set aside at room temperature while you fire the grill and complete your prep.

While the grill is preheating, combine the halved tomatoes, basil leaves in chiffonade, the lemon juice, and salt/pepper; set aside.

Now grill the chicken until done, 6-8 minutes per side, topping with a slice of mozzarella during the last couple of minutes. Covering your grill during the cheese melting window will make speed the process.

Pull the chicken, plate it, spoon on your pesto (up to 2-3 tbsp each), and top with the tomato/basil relish.

Enjoy.