Older Bolder Life

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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.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Thanksgiving best to all of our Older Bolder friends today; may you enjoy a wonderful, healthy, and damned tasty meal with family and friends (at least a few) today and some time under the Big Sky wherever you call home (that’s the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park above).

Cheers.

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: Easy Peasy Italian Seasoning

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One of our family mantras we’ve embraced for years now is the simple mindset of “dammit, we can do that”.

The first time I personally uttered that phrase was back in 2003 as we shopped around for barns to board our daughter’s first horse back then. That critter was entirely her project – from purchase to boarding to ongoing maintenance (if you’ve never been involved with horses, the ongoing costs are never-ending and impressively varied) – though that animal led us down a path none of us expected at the time.

The “dammit, we can do that” approach to that particular challenge led to buying a horse farm and show operation the next year, which we managed top to bottom as a family, and used as a learning lab for a plethora of life lessons, including teaching both of our then early teenage kids how to run a business.

The “dammit, we can do that” mantra works wonders in the kitchen too.

With a bit of research, creativity, and a modicum of skills there a host of great recipes and techniques available to the home cook these days; making home spices mixes with great ingredients is a prime example.

We love spicy, full-flavored foods around our camp, and have taken of late to buying organic, fresh as possible spices at our favorite local grocer, using them in various dishes as called for, and mixing up our own classic spices mixes as well.

This Easy Peasy Italian Seasoning is one that we find ourselves reaching for more and more often this fall; if you can measure and stir with a spoon, you can put this one together in minutes, and it’s a wonderful spice mix to have on hand for a host of recipes.

The Grilled Diablo Chicken Margherita from a few weeks back is a prime example of a dish where this spice mix shines; we’ve thrown it on chicken and pork headed for the grill all fall, and my wife thinks it works on grilled shrimp too.

I’ve very intentionally left the volume of the recipe up to you – I’m making a giant batch for gift giving this holiday season, though when I’m throwing together a quick recipe of this one at home, I typically use 1 part equal to 1 teaspoon using the following ratio.

(And note, while many commercial Italian spice mixes will have salt added, I’ve left it out so you can better control how much salt you’d like to add when cooking. Want salt in your mix? By damn, put it in.)

6 parts dried basil
6 parts dried oregano
6 parts dried parsley
3 parts crushed red pepper flakes
3 parts rosemary
3 parts thyme
2 parts marjoram
1 part granulated garlic

Combine the dried spices in a small bowl and mix well. Store in an airtight container or bag in a dark cabinet or the pantry.

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.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Older Bolder Links, Reads, Podcasts, Recipes, and More 28 October 2020

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Top of the Fold This Week: Optimizing Shoes, Flu Rates, Fasting, Food and Behavioral Issues, and More

Nifty look at how shoes tuned for walking may not be the best thing for you.

What’s up with the impressive drop in flu reporting so far this fall?

On demand fasting mobilizes fat. (Free Medscape account required)

Inside the fall of the CDC. (Only part of the story, but an interesting read…)

Is there a tie between sugar intake and behavioral disorders?

Sisson opines on the carnivore diet.

Omega 3s for major depression.

A Few Interesting COVID Related Reads from the Week

There’s been an impressive downward trend in COVID death rates.

US Defense study suggests COVID dispersal risk is low on planes.

Older people no more susceptible to COVID, but fare worse.

Are people with blood group O less susceptible to COVID?

Podcasts of the Week: Male Optimization and Aerobic Exercise with Maffetone

Male optimization with Brad Kearns.

Drs. Maffetone and Sinha: Getting Healthy, Fit, and Burning Fat

Food, Glorious Food

Heads up: There’s potentially a kimchi shortage in South Korea – make your own!

Expert corner on using soap to clean cast iron.

Ancho and chipotle glazed beef short ribs.

Our house pesto with a roasted twist.

Sauce Monday: Our House Pesto (with a Roasted Twist)

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At the risk of posting one of those recipes that just about every curious home cook already has in their repertoire, and probably a family favorite at that, I’ve had several requests of late for an easy, quick, damned tasty, and storable pesto recipe.

There are a ton of great pesto variations and recipes floating around out there, and we tend to lean on a fairly classic approach using really good ingredients – particularly the freshest basil you can get your hands on and a great parmesan cheese.

Several talented mentors in the kitchen, including our compadre Chef Libby in Austin, have taught us over the years that you can up your pesto game with a couple of simple roasting steps for the pine nuts and garlic.

Toasting (roasting) the pine nuts in particular brings out their umami flavors and we think adds a bit of tooth to the texture as well; you can either do in the oven or a pan on the stove (I do in the oven for 7-8 minutes at 300 to lower the risk of burning them, and typically just throw 3 garlic cloves in the pan as well to roast along with the pine nuts).

You certainly don’t have to do this, but you should try it at least once, and you’ll also find the roasted garlic is much more mellow and rounded after the gentle application of a bit of heat.

We usually scarf down a batch of pesto the day it’s made, but if you’re doing a bigger batch, you’ll preserve the basil’s bright green color longer in the fridge if you blanch the leaves for 15-20 seconds in simmering water followed by a dip in an ice-water bath immediately after. Drain well before blitzing, and your pesto will stay bright green in the fridge for days (though we always store ours with a thin layer of good olive oil on top too).

Friday I’m posting a great grilled chicken recipe featuring this pesto….

1 cup packed fresh basil leaves, see note above about optional blanching
1/4 cup fresh pine nuts, roasted
2-3 cloves garlic, roasted
1/3 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup good EVOO
1/2 to 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (or to taste)
1/2 tsp good salt (or to taste)
1/4-1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper (or to taste)

Roast the pine nuts and garlic if desired; see discussion above.

Blanch the fresh basil leaves if desired, see discussion above.

Combine the basil leaves, roasted garlic (minced if using raw, start with one clove), cheese, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil in your trusty food processor and pulse until the desired smoothness is achieved (we like our pesto with a bit of tooth or texture).

Store in the fridge with a thin layer of olive oil on top.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Ancho and Chipotle Glazed Beef Short Ribs

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Now that we’re beginning to see a hint of cooler fall weather, and inspired by some great recipes our friend Chef Libby in Austin has been sharing of late, we’ve been experimenting for weeks now with chile pepper based salsas and sauces to flavor up all sorts of dishes.

This recipe is a great example. A few weeks ago Libby and I were chatting about a recipe close to this one that showed up in Bon Appetit’s feed. We agreed their version was good, but was missing something; I thought it needed a deeper, fruit-like flavor note that anchos bring to the table.

Libby tried several different peppers (including guajillo and dried Californias by report) as well, though ended up agreeing with me that the ancho addition was the home run, and she also (being a Southern chef and knowing her catering audience in Austin very well) add just a bit of molasses too.

Hardcore keto folks will of course gasp at the inclusion of brown sugar (and the molasses), though I tend to agree with Mark Sisson that the occasional inclusion of any sweetener in a marinade or glaze isn’t in any way going to break the “carb bank” and disrupt your nutritional ketosis. Of course you can leave it out and rely on the natural sweetness of the anchos too.

This recipe was developed by the team at Bon Appetit apparently specifically for grilled short ribs, though we (and Libby) think it’s great on flank, skirt, and hanger steaks – all tougher, deeply-flavored cuts that need to be grilled just to medium rare and rested, then thinly sliced across the grain with care. Though I haven’t done so yet, I can imagine the sauce playing very well with pork tenderloin or chops, and I’ll probably make a batch around Thanksgiving when there’s a turkey on the menu…

The short ribs are a great call, and made a wonderful taco for these images, and even better bacon-wrapped poppers the next day.

6 garlic cloves, toasted (see below)
3-4 canned chipotles in adobo
1 presoaked, stemmed and seeded ancho Chile (2 if small)
1 tbsp chipotle adobo sauce
1/4 cup, scant, dark brown sugar (packed)
2 tbsp plain distilled white vinegar
1 tsp molasses, optional
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup water

1 and 1/2 pounds boneless beef short ribs (thicker the better)
1-2 tsp kosher salt
Optional: pinch of ground cumin, pinch of ancho chile powder
Avocado oil

To serve
Slaw of your choice – try this one
Red onion, cut into wedges through intact the root end
Avocado, small dice
Lime quarters
Chopped cilantro
Sliced radishes
Tortillas (gluten free or not)

Toast the garlic until charred, peel, then toss in the blender or food processor with the chipotles, adobo, soaked ancho chile, brown sugar, vinegar, molasses, kosher salt, pepper, and water. Blend until smooth, then set aside.

Fire the grill, and rub the short ribs with a 1 teaspoon or so of kosher salt, the optional cumin and ancho chile powder, then drizzle with the avocado oil and rub everything in.

Now grill the short ribs, rotating every 2 minutes or so, until crisp and browned – roughly 8-10 minutes. Now slather all sides of the ribs with the slather, turning every minute or so, for another 3-4 minutes until shiny and glazed.

Pull the meat, rest 15-20 minutes (finish the toppings), and grill the onion wedges in the meantime (trim off the root end when finished to separate the rings).

Now cut the short ribs into 1/3-inch pieces against the grain, and build that short rib taco drizzling a bit more of the adobo slather on to finish.

Enjoy.