Category: grilling

Handy Guide To Chili Peppers

chile-primer-various-peppersMy husband and some of my friends see peppers as a challenge.  The hotter the better.  They love to burn the heck out of their mouths and sweat & suffer afterward.

Not me.  I like my food spicy, but I still like the ability to taste and enjoy my food after I feel the burn.  Not the “Bern” that Bernie Sanders supporters feel 😉 , but the burn that a zip of spicy pepper adds to a dish.

Peppers, like salt, acid and fat, are essential flavor building blocks upon which dishes are built.  In an article at www.bonappetit.com, Amiel Stanek encourages readers to “tease out” the subtle nuances of spice in the season’s crop of peppers using some very specific techniques.  As someone who likes the taste, but not necessarily the need for a fire extinguisher after a bite, I appreciate the guidance.

Stanek reminds home cooks that peppers aren’t just spicy.  They’re also flavor bombs hiding hints of fruitiness, floral notes, earthiness, and “funk.”  To begin to experiment with these hidden flavors, a cook must first work on mellowing the pepper’s spice a bit:

  1. Remove the seeds – Using a paring knife or the edge of a spoon, remove the seed pod beneath the stem and white membranes that hold the rest of the seeds within.
  2. Char – You can do this whole on the grill, under the broiler, or directly on a stovetop gas burner and peel off the burnt layer before seeding them.
  3. Soak – Capsaicin, the compound that makes a pepper hot, is alcohol soluble. When using the hottest peppers, remove membranes and seeds, muddle, and soak in vodka for anywhere from a few hours up to a couple of days.

For a great, printable reference of the varied types of peppers and their levels of spiciness, from mild to “grab a fire extinguisher,” click on this link.

A recipe I shared earlier this year was for one of my favorite cocktail hour snacks on steak and salad night:  Blistered Shishito Peppers.  Take my advice and make a double batch!  These suckers are addicting and one batch is never enough.  If you have any left, put them in a re-sealable container or zip bag and toss in the refrigerator.  These are easily revived in a hot pan with a splash of olive oil a day or two later.

Are you on Facebook?  You might be interested in the things I may not devote an entire blog post to: recipes, food facts, nutritional information, photos and other things that make my mouth water. I may not write a blog post every day, but there are daily updates to my This Girl Loves To Eat community at: https://www.facebook.com/ThisGirlLovesHerFood

Some Beef Should Be Cooked Longer

Grilling_Steaks_(with_border)I saw an interesting article on www.epicurious.com, one of my favorite recipe and food information sites, this morning and it raised some points I hadn’t thought of before concerning the degree of wellness that’s best for each cut of meat.

When we go out for a steak dinner my husband is an automatic medium-rare guy and I’m a firm believer that my meat shouldn’t walk itself to the table or be so bloody that it’s still cold inside, so my go-to temperature request is medium.

Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton, owners of Ox Restaurant in Portland, OR, give great reasons for venturing beyond medium-rare (130° F) on these specific cuts:

  • With tougher cuts like hangar, tri-tip, flank, flap steak, and skirt steak, “you need to allow time for the fibers to relax.” Any steak on which you can see the grain of the meat running down its length is at its optimal level of tenderness and juiciness when cooked to medium (140°F).
  • For short ribs, cook to medium to medium-well (140ºF to 150ºF) because “the connective tissues and marbling need time to render, so they’re best grilled over low heat for a long period of time.” This cut, which is often braised, has a lot of fat, so it can stand up to the higher level of doneness. Plus, Gabrielle says, “the tendons get crispy and satisfyingly chewy,” when cooked this way.

For purposes of safety and less chance of getting any type of food borne illness, the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) recommends steaks and roasts be cooked to 145°F (medium) and then rested for at least 3 minutes. The USDA also recommends that ground beef should be cooked to a minimum 160°F (well done) and that temperatures should be checked with a thermometer.  Don’t rely solely on color as some meats don’t change a whole lot.

I would imagine the people at Certified Angus Beef  would be the ultimate experts on the ideal degree of wellness for beef.  They recommend:

  1. Inserting your thermometer through the side of your meat, with the tip in the center of the cut, not touching any bone or fat.
  2. Removing steaks and burgers from the heat when the thermometer registers 5°F lower than the desired doneness, and roasts 5-10°F lower, as the temperature will continue to rise while resting.

I see where I am screwing up!  I often overcook my husband’s steaks because I do rely on the color and/or wait for the thermometer to reach the exact wellness mark.  I’m changing my ways today. 😉

Are you on Facebook?  You might be interested in the things I may not devote an entire blog post to: recipes, food facts, nutritional information, photos and other things that make my mouth water. I may not write a blog post every day, but there are daily updates to my This Girl Loves To Eat community at: https://www.facebook.com/ThisGirlLovesHerFood