Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

¾ cup uncooked white rice (creamiest with short or medium grain)

2 cups milk (divided into 1 ½ and ½ cups)

1/3 cup white sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

2/3 cup golden raisins

1 tablespoon butter

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

·     Cook rice using standard method.

·     In saucepan, combine 1 ½ cups cooked rice with 1 ½ cups milk, sugar, and salt.

·     Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy (about 20 min).

·     Beat egg into remaining ½ cup of milk. This prevents clumping when the egg is added to the warm milk rice mixture.

·     Stir combined egg/milk and raisins into warm milk rice mixture.

·     Cook for 2 more minutes, stirring constantly.

·     Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and butter.

Honey-Lemon Custard

Honey-Lemon Custard

 This vanilla custard has a crisp lemon bite and is meant to be served with either strawberries, blackberries, raspberries or even mangoes.

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon honey

1 ½ tablespoons sugar

1/3 Mexican vanilla bean, split lengthwise

(2) 2” strips of lemon peel

juice from ½ lemon

Tools:

Small saucepan

Hand juicer for lemon

4 ramekins

Directions:

·      Heat cream, honey, and sugar in saucepan over medium heat until just beginning to simmer.

·      Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean and then add bean itself.

·      Add lemon peel.

·      Remove from heat and let steep for 5 minutes.

·      Remove vanilla bean and lemon peel.

·      Gently stir in lemon juice.

·      Divide custard amongst ramekins.

·      Chill to set for at least an hour.  Can be covered and chilled for up to one day.

·      Serve custard with berries on the side.

Potential Modifications:

• I used the juice from half of a thin-skinned lemon plucked from the neighbor’s tree.  I don’t remember what type of lemon this was but it was tasty and very tart.  It was possibly too tart for some people who may want to use less juice.
• Could try sweetening with agave syrup instead of honey.

Beachwood BBQ - Seal Beach

Beachwood BBQ Review

Seal Beach

http://beachwoodbbq.com

Beer: Hangar 24 Palmero – traditional Abbey-style dubbel with California dates from Coachella Valley

Appetizer: Fried green tomatoes without any sauce

Main Course: Dry rub Baby Back ribs

Starch: Potato salad with peppers and onions

Vegetable Creamed corn

Bread:  Corn bread with fruit

I first heard about Beachwood BBQ because of their beer list but never managed to find the time to get down to Seal Beach and check them out.  Recently, Christie and I were headed out to South Coast Plaza to do some pretentious shopping and we decided to stop by and give them a try.  We’ve traveled a good part of the real South (i.e., not SoCal) sampling barbecue so we already have an idea of what we do and don’t like about barbecue and we’re always looking for another good place here in southern California.

Beachwood BBQ is located on Main Street in Seal Beach and as luck would have it, the streets were blocked off for a huge car show.  Apart from causing a parking problem, I was afraid that the crowds would overrun the restaurant and we’d have to wait a long time for a table.  We lucked out and quickly found on-street parking about three blocks south of Main. 

After getting the car squared away, we squeezed through the throngs of people shuffling up and down the street and found the restaurant right away.  It’s a tiny little place and my fears about a long wait increased exponentially.  We stepped in and asked if there was a table available and surprisingly we were seated right away at one of the small tables by the window overlooking the street.  Apparently there were about ten groups on the list ahead of us but they’d all wandered off and were unavailable which left us with the best table in the house.  I don’t think you can count on that kind of luck everyday so things were definitely looking good.

We were given menus when we sat down but they didn’t list the beers that were available.  On the back wall of the restaurant and again on the wall behind the bar are about 24 square signs that list the available beers on tap.  I could have checked the hop cam before we left but this was a last minute decision so I was unprepared for this important decision.  I quickly perused the list and saw that a number of beers were from well known California breweries like Russian River, Port, and Stone but it also included some lesser known Southern California breweries like Hangar 24, El Segundo, and a couple from Beachwood BBQ itself.  The rest of the list was composed of beers and places with which I was unfamiliar.   I quickly chose an Abbey-style double from Hangar 24 called Palmero.  I would have liked to take longer to research the tap list but since I was getting pretty hungry by this point, have a tendency to like Belgian-style doubles, and had been wanting to try some of the beers from Hangar 24 for a while, I made the decision in rapid order.

The Palmero is from Hangar 24’s Local Fields series, which uses locally sourced ingredients to brew a series of limited release specialty beers during the year.  The goal is to show off different seasonal styles along with distinct flavor combinations.  The Palmero is a traditional Abbey-style dubbel made with California dates grown in the Coachella Valley.  The beer was rich, carbonated, and fruity with notes of raisin and spice.  It was very enjoyable and was big enough to stand up to the slab of baby back ribs that were to be the main course.

After getting the beer squared away it was time to check out the food.  There were many things that looked interesting on the menu but we ignored everything and went straight for the baby back ribs this time.  Of course you can’t have ribs without some southern side dishes so we started out with some fried green tomatoes as an appetizer, followed by potato salad and creamed corn with the meal. 

The delicious fried green tomatoes were light and crunchy with a sharp tangy bite.  They weren’t served with any remoulade sauce but I used a tiny amount of the house vinegar barbecue sauce while Christie preferred a little bit of the spicy barbecue sauce.

The main course arrived shortly after we finished off the tomatoes.  The ribs are dry rub style and aren’t covered with any sauce.  There are four barbecue sauces and a small bottle of Tabasco at the table.  These sauces cover the expected spicy, sweet, vinegar, and mustard flavors but their consistency is thinner than is typically found in the South.  Don’t be fooled by their viscosity however, these sauces pack all the flavor that’s needed.  Of course that assumes that you’re going to use the sauce.  The ribs are slow smoked and plenty flavorful on their own. 

The creamed corn and potato salad seemed to have a lot of thought and care put into them but the execution was lacking.  The creamed corn was merely wet corn instead of the creamy concoction that it can become.  The potato salad was also disappointing although I should point out that I’m not a fan of German style potato salad and this seemed to come from somewhere on that end of the spectrum.  It also had green peppers and onions mixed in but still ended up a bit flat in my opinion.  On the other hand, the corn bread was very tasty and had little pieces of dried fruit like cranberries sprinkled throughout which provided a surprising little pop of flavor.

The service was friendly and pretty efficient.  We had added some sweet potato fries to our order but they weren’t ready in time for the main course so we canceled them.  I’m pretty sure there was enough time to cook the fries but since it wasn’t included in our original order we may have messed up the kitchen’s routine and contributed to this missed opportunity.

Ratings

Specific Beer: A+ Hangar 24 Palmero

Beer Selection: A+ for 24 interesting selections

Appetizer:  A+ Crispy fried green tomatoes

Main Course: A+ Smoked Baby Back Ribs

Side Dishes: C for Potato Salad and for the Creamed Corn

Bread: A Corn Bread with fruit  

Service: B

Overall, I highly recommend this place although I hear there can be long lines involved.  The only area I scored them low was for the side dishes and they have many more of these to try to find ones that I like.

After our meal we wandered up and down the street admiring the huge collection of Hot Rods, Funny Cars, Dragsters, and Classics while eating fresh kettle corn.

Muffaletta Sandwich (Gluten Free)

Introduction:

Muffaletta sandwiches are a New Orleans favorite but unfortunately, are not friendly to those forced to eat gluten free. The bread is the first obvious issue but there can also be gluten hiding in the giardiniera.  Giardiniera is merely a blend of vegetables soaked in vinegar.  It's the vinegar that might sneak in the gluten here.

One of the goals for this sandwich is to meld all of the flavors without allowing any one to dominate the others. Fine dicing the vegetables and spreading out the various meats and cheeses provides a well balanced flavor. I’ve tried making this with an extra slice of mortadella, and while still tasty, the sandwich seemed to be too dominated by its baloney taste. Traditional Italian mortadella is sliced thinner than is typically found in America which let's them be less overpowering.

Making muffalettas is an easy three step process. First we make the olive tapenade the day before. This gives all the flavors a chance to blend together. We then make the bread on the morning of the day when we want the sandwich. We could just buy the bread but we haven't found an appropriate regular bread and gluten free requirements just make this even more difficult. Finally we build the sandwich about an hour before we plan to eat them. Waiting an hour isn't necessary but it gives the olive oil a chance to soak into the bread.

Step One:

Olive Tapenade Ingredients:

1 cup Spanish Manzanilla green olives with pimento (Star jar)

½ cup Kalamata black olives (Mezzatta jar)

½ cup pepperoncini (Mezzatta jar)

½ jar giardiniera (need version with GF vinegar)

4 pieces roasted red peppers (Mezzata jar)

1 cup olive oil

garlic

1 shake oregano

Olive Tapenade Directions:

Crush and dice the garlic, green olives, and kalamata olives.

Dice the pepperoncini, giardiniera, and red peppers.

Mix diced ingredients in bowl, add oregano and olive oil.

Cover mixture with plastic wrap and let sit in refrigerator for about 24 hours.

Step Two:

Muffaletta Bread Ingredients:

Chebe gluten free foccacia bread

Muffaletta Bread Directions:

Make gluten free focaccia bread dough according to directions on the box.

Sprinkle top of bread dough with sesame seeds

Bake bread in round cake pan according to box directions

After it cools, slice the round bread into quarters then split each quarter in half

Step Three:

Muffaletta Sandwich Ingredients:

Olive Tapenade

Muffaletta Bread

Provolone Cheese

Mozzarella Cheese

Mortadella

Genoa Salami

Muffaletta Sandwiches:

Coat bottom piece of bread with a thick layer of the olive tapenade

Add a slice of mortadella

Then a slice of mozzeralla cheese

Followed by a slice of genoa salami

And finally a slice of provolone cheese

Gently squeeze sandwich together

Can be eaten right away or wrap the sandwich in plastic wrap and let sit for an hour or two to let oil soak into bread.

Potential modifications/variations:

Coarse chop instead of fine dicing

Add capers to the olive tapenade

Add a layer of ham to the sandwich

Use gluten free all purpose bread dough instead of focaccia

Need method to get sesame seeds to stick better

Gumbo (Gluten Free)

This recipe is derived from Emeril Lagasse's gumbo recipe.  The main challenge here is making a dark brown roux using gluten free flour alternatives.  I used Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour which is a combination of garbanzo bean flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, white sorghum flour, and fava bean flour.  The roux got to the dark brown stage a little faster than I expected but this may be because I had too large a pot at a slightly hotter temperature than it needed to be.


Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ cup olive oil

½ pound andouille sausage

2 pounds chicken thighs (skin removed)

½ tablespoon Essence

½ cup Bob's Red Mill GF all purpose flour

1 cup chopped onions

½ cup chopped celery

½ cup chopped bell peppers

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

2 bay leaves

4 ½ cups chicken stock

½ tablespoon file powder

Final Touches:

¼ cup chopped green onion

1 tablespoon parsley

tabasco sauce as a condiment

white rice

Directions:

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in large Dutch oven over medium high heat.

Add the sausage and cook until well browned (~ 8 minutes).

Remove the sausage and drain on a paper towel.

Season the chicken with Essence and add in batches to the fat in the Dutch oven.

Cook over medium high heat until well browned (5 to 6 minutes).

Remove the chicken from the pan and cool in the refrigerator.

Combine ¼ cup olive oil and flour in the same Dutch oven over medium heat.

Cook, stirring slowly and constantly, to make a dark brown roux (20 to 25 minutes).

Add the onions, celery, and bell peppers and cook while stirring until well wilted (4 to 5 minutes).

Add the sausage, salt, cayenne, and bay leaves, stir, and cook (2 minutes).

Stirring, slowly add the chicken stock, and cook, stirring, until well combined.

Increase temperature and bring the mixture to a boil.

Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally (1 hour).

Add the reserved chicken to the pot and simmer (1 ½ hours).

Remove the pot from the heat.

Remove the chicken thighs from the gumbo and place on a cutting board.

Pull the chicken meat from the bones and shred, discarding the bones and skin.

Remove and discard the bay leaves.

Return the meat to the gumbo and stir in the green onions, parsley, and file powder.

Spoon rice into the bottom of deep bowls or large cups and ladle the gumbo on top.

Serve with hot sauce on the side.

Mashed Potatoes

My mother made the creamiest mashed potatoes found anywhere and even though she never tried to hide her technique I never figured out how she did it.  I know she let the mixer run for ever and added plenty of butter and milk but I've no idea how she was able to keep them warm.  Rather than try to duplicate her method, I'm trying out a method that will work for me.

2 large potatoes (peeled and cut into large pieces)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons butter

salt

 

1. Put the potatoes in a large pot of water and add salt.

2. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and cook until tender (about 20 minutes).
3. Drain potatoes and put in large bowl for mashing.

4. Mash potatoes with hand masher.
5. Heat cream and butter in a small saucepan until incorporated.

6. Pour heated cream and butter over mashed potatoes and stir until smooth.

7. Season with salt and pepper. 

These mashed potatoes are very smooth and creamy and as an added bonus, are easy to keep warm for serving.  The mashed potatoes seem to melt as you pour the warm cream and butter mixture into them.  I didn't choose any special type of potato but some types are supposed to be better than others.

Potential experiments: add bay leaf while boiling potatoes, add garlic, top with chives, use different types of potatoes 

Strawberry Ice Cream

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup 2% milk
2 cups strawberries
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon Madagascar vanilla extract

1: Combine strawberries, 1/3 cup of sugar, and lime juice.  Stir gently and let macerate for 2 hours.
2: Whisk together milk and remaining sugar.
3: Stir in heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract, plus juice from the strawberries.
4: Turn on ice cream machine and pour in the liquid mixture.
5: Run machine until mixture thickens (about 25 to 30 minutes).
6: Add strawberries during the last 5 minutes.

We got a discount on a lot of fresh strawberries from the local farmer's market and needed to do something with them before they went bad.  I froze some of them, we made breakfast smoothies with some, and the remainder was used for this ice cream.

Used lime juice even though most recipes call for lemon juice.  This was because we didn't have any lemons or lemon juice and figured this was close enough.

Also used 2% milk instead of the standard whole milk.  Again, this was all we had in the house.  It was unusual for us to have heavy whipping cream available but luck was with us.

We quartered the strawberries but this was still too large for the ice cream.  Next time we'll cut them a little smaller.