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).

Something With Cuban Flair - Ropa Vieja

For those of you who have not been fortunate enough to experience Cuban food yet, the best description that I can give of this dish is this: ropa vieja is to beef what pulled pork is to pork. It is delicious and makes my mouth water to just think of it. I am not Cuban so I do not claim to have the best recipe for it, but this is my adaptation of this wonderful dish.

Ropa Vieja a la Nydia

2 1/2 pounds of flank steak (Cut into strips along the length of the cut of meat AKA along the grain of the meat)

2 plum tomatoes (seeded, pealed and finely chopped)

1/2 Large Sweet White Onion (finely chopped)

1/2 Large Green Pepper (finely chopped)

5-6 Garlic Cloves (minced)

3-4 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 TBSP Tomato Paste

5 TBSP Sherry Cooking Wine

4-5 Cups of water

3-4 Large Bay Leaves

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a dutch oven heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the tomatoes, onion, green pepper and garlic. Saute the vegetables until the onions become translucent and the green pepper and tomatoes are soft. 

Add the tomato paste and stir it in to distribute evenly. Slowly add in 1 cup of the water and let the vegetables simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add the bay leaves and stir in the sherry. Add another cup of the water and let simmer for another 5 minutes.

Add the flank steak strips along with another cup of water, and place the cover on the dutch oven. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Season to taste.

Add 1 cup of water and lower the heat to medium low. Let the meat stew in the vegetable juices for another hour or so making sure to check in every 20 minutes or so to stir the pot and to make sure that the level of the liquid has not dropped too drastically (if it has then add the additional cup of water and lower your heat a little more). The goal of this dish is to make the beef very tender so that it can be pulled apart easily. The meat must have plenty of juices to sit in and more importantly, it must cook slowly (meat that is cooked in heat that is too high for too little time will always wind up chewy and inedible, the only exception to this is when you are searing a piece of meat. More on that when summer comes around).

Once your meat has cooked through and you can easily pull it apart into thin strands you will be good to go so you can turn off the heat or put it on extra low. Patiently and tenderly take that strips of meat out of the juice, pull them apart and put back in the dutch oven back into its beautiful juices and make sure that the shredded meat is drenched in them. 

Serve over rice and enjoy.