Shrimp and "real" grits

Still camera-less, the photo above is from a recipe I posted nearly tw0 years ago. Nobody read any of my stuff in those days, so I don't feel bad about plagiarizing myself. Bo (http://bos-bowl.com/) sent me real grits last week. I was in the camp of idiots who think that grits and polenta are essentially the same thing. Nothing could be further from the truth (unless you're Sarah Palin pontificating on something she knows nothing about, which pretty much covers every topic in the universe). I'm sorry. This is supposed to be about food, not politics. Well, too late now, this cat's out of the bag.

So anyhow - I went in well-armed and determined. I cooked some of the rough-ground hominy grits Bo sent me. What a revelation! A texture I haven't experienced in decades (since on concert tours throughout the south in the 60's and 70's). Do yourself a favor and go to Wikipedia for a tutorial on hominy. I won't presume to impart much knowledge about it here. I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid. Leave facts to those who know what they are (not you Sarah).

Peter did the quick grits for lunch today and I did the more ambitious stone ground ones for dinner. They are both good, but the stone ground are creamier, gentler, every -er you can think of.

Shrimp and grits

Cook 1 cup hominy grits according to package directions.

Cook 12 oz. shrimp in whatever fashion you like (I prefer poaching for 3 minutes, or sauteing for about 4 minutes). In this case, however, I sauteed 1/4 of an onion and then the shrimp, generously dousing them in cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Garnish them with a generous amount of chopped cilantro. On top of the grits, they were worth committing adultery for.

Spoon the grits out into a hot bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Drop in a generous dollop of butter. Top with shrimp and just try to speak without a southern accent!

Posole

The pork roast that I made last Sunday provided an amazing number of meals, including the one last night: posole. I love making posole and it turns out very different each time. In this case there was the luxurious broth infused with onion, hominy and celery. I added another 14 oz. can of hominy, shredded the remaining pork, and tarted it up as best I could.

A word about liquid smoke. It’s not an ersatz ingredient. It’s perfectly ok and adds a flavor I can’t otherwise get, seeing as how I don’t own a smoker. If I had thought of it I’d have added it to the pork as it roasted.

Posole
12 oz. shredded roast pork
32 oz. beef broth
1 14 oz. can white hominy (supplementing the can already in the broth)
½ large jalapeno, seeded and minced
hot sauce to taste
2 tbsp liquid smoke
2 heaping tbsp tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste

Put it all in a pot and heat it through. Taste for seasonings and adjust as necessary. Serve with hot tortillas if you have them. Otherwise a nice crusty bread will do.

Turkey milanesa with hominy/bean/grits cakes

Pictured above: 2 pieces turkey milanesa and one bean cake (top of plate).

We bought a 20 lb. turkey at a 60% discount the day after Easter. I broke it down into legs, thighs, breasts (one boneless, one bone-on), wings and back (for stock). Last night I made some of the boneless breast into milanesa. The remainder of that breast will become turkey burgers tonight.

Cheese-Whiz, that’s a lot of turkey. But the t-bird is an excellent source of low-fat protein. And, as it happens, Peter and I love turkey.

I have studied the art of milanesa (or the Italian version, milanese) for a long time. The last two times I’ve made it (pork once, then now the turkey) I really felt like I understood it.

I did one thing different: I sliced the breast across instead of lengthwise – into two 5-6 oz. cutlets ½” thick (before pounding). This is the equivalent of cutting meat across the grain.

Keys to the process:
1) brining – 2 cups water, 2 tbsp kosher salt (1 for regular salt), 1 tsp roughly smashed black peppercorns – 2-3 hours in the fridge is fine.
2) Rinsing very, very well.
3) No added salt after brining – seasoning with some more pepper and some paprika is good.
4) Pounding thin is essential – no more than 1/4”; closer to 1/8” is even better.
5) Allow the coatings to set up in the refrigerator.
6) Getting the oil hot enough – when it’s ready a flick of water into it will pop instantly – not sizzle, pop.
7) Cooking time – absolutely no more than 90 seconds per side.
8) Drain on paper towel and dab the top to remove any excess oil.

Turkey milanesa
2 5-6 oz. turkey cutlets, cut across the grain ½” thick
brining liquid
sweet or smoked paprika to taste
black pepper
all-purpose flour for dredging
1 egg, lightly beaten with 2 tbsp cream, milk or water
bread crumbs, homemade or panko, but never Italian-flavored ones from a box
2/3 cup grated parmesan or romano cheese (optional)
vegetable oil, enough to coat a large saute pan to 1/8”

Pound the cutlets to 1/8” – ¼” thickness between plastic wrap or in a freezer bag. Season with paprika and/or pepper. Dredge in flour and shake off excess. Dip into egg and coat thoroughly, allowing excess to drain off. Coat with bread crumbs (with or without the cheese in it), pressing the crumbs in.

Place the cutlets on a baking rack over a plate and refrigerate until 30 minutes before cooking.

I cannot emphasize the importance of getting the oil hot enough. You can test it one of two ways: flick a drop of water into it – it should pop instantly; or drop a tiny bit of breadcrumbs into the oil – it should sizzle aggressively in an instant and be brown in a matter of a few seconds.

Here’s the part that’s hard to trust – the cooking time. Cook for 90 seconds on one side, turn and cook as little as one more minute. Last night, because the cutlets were about ¼” thick, I intended to cook them 2 minutes per side. After turning them I let them go only 30 seconds on side 2.

Drain on paper towels, dabbing the tops with another towel to remove any residual oil. Serve at once.

It was time to dispose of some leftovers: a bit of grits from last night, a bit of hominy from the recent posole, and an orphan can of Navy beans in the pantry. I had to consult a couple of recipes from our loose-leaf collection, mostly to see what I should use as a binder.

Grits, hominy and Navy bean cakes
1/3 cup leftover grits or polenta
½ - 14 oz. can hominy, drained and rinsed
1 14 oz. can Navy beans, drained and rinsed
2 scallions, green and white parts chopped fine
1 tsp hot sauce
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp flour
1 serrano chile, seeded and minced
pinch finely chopped fresh rosemary
½ cup grated pepper jack cheese
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp olive oil

Put the hominy and beans in a food processor and pulse to a rough chop. Mix in grits, scallions, hot sauce, egg, flour, serrano chile, rosemary, cheese, salt and pepper. Form a little of it into a 1” ball, flatten it and microwave it for 15 seconds. Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Heat olive oil in a non-stick saute pan over medium-high heat. Form the mixture into patties and fry 3-4 minutes per side until hot throughout.

Posole

Every time I make posole I do it differently. My first posole post was way back to 9/30/08. I start with a list of what I have to contribute to it. This time it was some great big pork loin chops (on the bone) that were quite fatty. Trimming the fat and cutting the meat into ½” pieces was a start.

I had 1 pasilla pepper (a dried one) and a bag of the kind of dried red peppers you see ristras made from. Instead of rehydrating the peppers, I broke them up with my hands and extracted the seeds. Then I pulverized them in our spice grinder. All I needed to buy was an Anaheim pepper and some broth.

One problem cropped up: it was spicy, perhaps too spicy for Peter – perhaps too spicy for me, although my tolerance level is pretty high. The solution: after some thought I went out and bought a second can of hominy and added some more broth. Problem solved.

Posole
2 tbsp olive oil
1 ½ lbs cubed pork (from chops or shoulder)
½ medium onion, diced
1 Anaheim pepper, seeded and diced
salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 dried pasilla pepper, seeded and pulverized in a spice grinder
2 dried red Mexican peppers, seeded and pulverized
1 & 1/2 15 oz. can hominy, white or yellow, drained and rinsed
20 oz. or more chicken stock
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried Mexican oregano

Heat the olive oil in a good-sized pot. Add the pork and stir to prevent sticking. Cook the pork, stirring often, until most of the pink has disappeared.

Add the onion and Anaheim pepper. Add salt and pepper and saute 4 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic and dried peppers and stir. Saute 2 minutes.

Add hominy, thyme and oregano. Add enough chicken stock to get the consistency you want. Bring to a boil, lower heat to a slow simmer, cover the pot and simmer slowly for 1 hour.

Check the pork for tenderness and let it go longer if you think it’s necessary. Taste for seasonings and adjust as necessary.

If you can make this a day ahead, that’s a good thing.

Posole

I have had everything I need to make posole since 2 weeks ago. I picked up a package of dried hominy and some chorizo (which has been in the freezer). Oddly enough, the hominy package doesn’t say anything about soaking the corn before cooking. So I just put it on the stove. The package also does not tell you how long it will take to cook the hominy. A couple of recipes on the web say 2-4 hours. What the hey, I’m not in any hurry.

Traditionally posole can be made without meat, but not in my house. The chorizo I have is not a salty variety. If you use chorizo instead of pork cubes, cook a little piece of it in the microwave to ascertain its saltiness. Salt your posole accordingly.

It seems to me that the greatest difference between posole and menudo is whether or not it has tripe in it. Therefore I suspect that if you order one or the other in a Mexican restaurant you will get the same soup with tripe or without.

When I had everything cooked and combined I put in more salt, pepper. I was pleased with the taste but for one thing. The top notes, the spice, were there and not overwhelming at all. The bass notes, hominy and chorizo, were substantial. But something was missing in the middle. I think it was what is called umami, that flavor component that complements the usual list of sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.

The earthiness of mushrooms is probably the best definition of umami. It may surprise you to learn that I filled in that middle flavor by the addition of Chinese black vinegar. It doesn’t taste much like the vinegar we are more familiar with. It’s something like a slightly sweet balsamic.

Posole
2 cups dried hominy
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
½ lb chorizo
1 medium onion, chopped, divided
1 dried pasilla pepper
1 “hot” Hatch chile or 2 “mild”, roasted, peeled, seeded, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
salt
Chinese black vinegar
oregano
cilantro, chopped

Cook hominy in stock and water until kernels start to burst. Because there was no directive on the package to soak it, I let it simmer for nearly 4 hours. That did the trick. A pressure cooker would speed this up quite a bit.

Sauté ½ the onion, garlic and chorizo until the pork is completely cooked – about 6 minutes.

Reconstitute the pasilla pepper in warm water for 30-60 minutes. Remove seeds. Place in food processor with Hatch chile(s) and puree with the water it was re-hydrated in.

Combine all ingredients, add salt, pepper and oregano to taste, and simmer for 20 minutes to allow flavors to develop. Add a couple of tablespoons of black vinegar or balsamic. Do this judiciously so that it doesn’t hijack the overall taste.

Serve with remaining chopped onion, oregano, and cilantro for garnishes.

For a free excerpt of my book, “A Year of Food,” in which I opine, report, cook, muse and philosophize about everything that passed my lips for an entire year, write to me at: scrout1944@msn.com.