Miso Paste - The Sequel

OK, OK I have slacked a bit and then went off on my Parts Unknown tangent, but as promised here is the second recipe that came out of my experimentation with red miso paste. On the side of the miso paste container I got, there was a recipe for miso barbeque sauce. As you might have noticed by now, I only stick to a recipe when there is actual chemistry involved that needs to be heeded in order to prevent culinary disasters. Otherwise, I pretty much try to challenge the norm. I was not particularly happy with what the ingredients in the recipe noted on the container yielded (to me it came out a little too acidy), so I adapted it and made it a little more me. Noted below you will find the ingredients list broken down into what the recipe called for and then what I chose to add to it. Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Miso Barbeque Sauce
Base Ingredients:
2 Cloves of garlic - minced
1/2 Cup of onion -  minced (vidalia will probably work best if you want your sauce to be sweet)
2 TBSP Sesame oil
1/4 Cup of mushrooms - sliced (the thinner the better)
6 oz tomato paste
1/4 Cup red miso paste
3 TBSP Vinegar
3/4 Cup of Water
Extra ingredients:
1/2 Cup Packed brown sugar
1/4 Cup dry white wine
1/4 Cup maple syrup (in honor of Nadia G, one of my favorite Canadians)

In a nice, deep pan, saute your garlic and onions in the sesame oil on medium heat. Let them get nice tender and fragrant. Add the mushrooms and saute until those are nice and soft too. Add in the remainder of the ingredients and mix with a whisk, making sure to break down the lumps from the miso paste and brown sugar. Once everything is nicely incorporated, cover and allow to simmer for five to ten minutes. Uncover and let simmer on low to reduce and thicken to your desired consistency (some people like their sauce a little runny. I prefer mine a little thicker because I like it to grab on to whatever I am putting it on). Voila! You now have barbeque sauce with a little twist. Now what to do with it?

I chose to use my sauce to coat a beautiful NY Strip I had been trying to figure out what to do with. I first coated the steak in olive oil, sea salt and garlic and let it rest in that mixture for abut 5 minutes. I placed the steak on a rack and put it in the broiler for 5 minutes on each side, then I took the steak out and coated it in the barbecue sauce and broiled it again for 4 minutes on each side. It was delicious. The picture below might not do it justice but I can assure you it was wonderful (and no, I did not eat that humungus piece of meat in one sitting. I still have some self control left).

Phylo Dough Guava, Cherries & Queso Blanco

These past few weeks I had been on a rut, which is why not much had been posted on this blog. I had been noticing that every time I went to the grocery store I was buying exactly the same stuff week after week. Last week I finally decided that I would start looking out for ways in which I could break my habitual shopping. One of the purchases I made was phylo dough sheets, because I wanted to try my hand at making various types of pastries. I also got a block of guava paste and some queso blanco. Guava paste is something that I grew up with and love. When I was a little girl living in Colombia my mom used to put a small cube for snack time in my lunch box (mine was a Bee Gees tin one with matching thermos). Anyway, it was only later in life that I found out that guava is also a tremendously nutritious little fruit.

Alright, enough of my rambling. Here is what you will need to make these pastries. I made one cherry and one guava pastry:

Ingredients:
3 TBSP Butter (Melted-You will use this to brush it on the phylo sheets)
4 Phylo Sheets
1 Cup fresh Cherries (Pitted and cut in half)
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar (Dark or Light, it is up to you and your preference)
2-4 oz Guava Paste Block (Cut into slices about 1/4" thick)
1 32oz block of Queso Blanco (Grated)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Cherry Pastry How To:

Take two of the phylo sheets for  this pastry.

Place the fist sheet on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and coat with melted butter using a pastry brush. Fold in half and coat the top with another bit more of the melted butter. Place the second sheet on top and repeat the butter coating process. Your pastry will now have four layers of phylo.

Place half of your cherries at the center making a thick stripe with them but allowing enough room on the pastry so that you can fold the pastry and cover the cherries on both sides and a little bit of room at the ends so that you can fold those over as well. (see pictures below). Drizzle the cherries with the brown sugar, and then add a layer of the queso blanco. Repeat these steps with the remaining half of the cherries.

Fold the short ends of the phylo dough in first and then proceed folding over the sides making sure that everything is tucked in well so that the pastry will stay together.

Place in the baking sheet in the oven and bake the pastry for  20-30 making sure to check it often to ensure that the phylo is not browning too quickly or burning. You will know it is ready when your phylo looks golden brown and the contents look like they are bubbling.

For the guava pastry you will follow the same steps as for the cherry pastry except this one will only get the guava paste slices and cheese without the brown sugar.

Let them cool slightly and serve either on their own or with some ice cream of your choice.

Pork Chops with Strawberry Chutney

Tonight was leftovers night and I wanted to make something to enhance some pork chops I had made earlier in the week. I was a little ambitious last week and got two parcels of strawberries because my daughter loves them, but by today these darlings had not been completely eaten and they were starting to look like they needed to be used. I thought I would give a try at a chutney using them. I had not seen any recipes for chutney using strawberries so I made one up and here it is.

Strawberry Chutney

1 1/2 Pounds of Strawberries (finely diced)
Ginger Root (a 1/2 inch piece, pealed and finely sliced)
3 Medium Shallots (finely sliced)
3 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 TBSP Sherry Cooking Wine
Salt to taste
2 tsp Red Pepper Paste
1 TBSP Yellow Curry Powder
1 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

Heat the oil in a pan at medium high heat and add your shallots and ginger root. Saute until the shallots become translucent.

Add in your strawberries and allow them to cook briefly.

Add in the brown sugar making sure to allow it to dissolve and incorporate it evenly into the strawberry and shallot mixture.

Add in the sherry, salt, red pepper paste and curry powder mixing in until well incorporated. Make sure to taste it at this point to make sure you like the amount of seasoning.

Add in the vinegar, lower the heat to medium low and let it simmer, making sure to stir frequently until the texture is soft and thick. Do a check on your seasoning again to ensure you like it. then remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly. When ready place on top of the pork chops.

This makes enough to fill a 13oz jar so you can save it and use it on crackers with some nice cheese for a great snack.

Enjoy.