This recipe is one I decided to dedicate to our friend who recently had a baby and a birthday (you know who you are, Eric). It's a quick, easy, and a deceptively fancy tasting dish (just like Eric! -jen). The leg quarters could be substituted with any cut of chicken (and the sauce is awesome on pork as well so use what ya got). The polenta could be rice, or pasta, or mashed potatoes so the main thrust of this post is the chicken and the sauce. The cooking time is about 45 minutes for the chicken and the sauce reduces down during that time period so it's not hard to pull off at all. I had to listen to The Descendents song "Sour Grapes", of course, because they kick ass. Balsamic vinegar...sour grapes...though unlike the song lyrics, this sauce leaves anything but a "bad taste". -justin
BAKED CHICKEN WITH BALSAMIC REDUCTION
4 leg quarters
poultry seasoning
adobo seasoning
salt and pepper
1 cup Balsamic vinegar
4 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Preheat oven to 350 F. Season both sides of the chicken with a light dusting of poultry seasoning, adobo seasoning, salt and pepper. Cook in shallow baking sheet at 350 F for 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, whisk together Balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, careful not to let it boil over. Once it comes to a boil, lower heat to keep sauce at a gentle boil for about 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. If your sauce is rising to the top of the pan, your heat is too high. You want to get your sauce to be like molasses - thick but drizzleable (which is not a word).
You could serve the chicken with the sauce on the side, drizzle it over the chicken, or drizzle it over the plate and place your chicken atop it.
Served here with a garlic-herb polenta and steamed cauliflower. (My attempt at better plating! It's a work in progress -jen)
I can't really take credit for this recipe... this one, like the beans in the last post, is my mom's recipe. Only she made it with Bailey's, which is also pretty kick ass! Always a favourite of the whole family... I didn't even like cheesecake until she started making this recipe! But I've had the Peppermint Mocha Kahlua hanging around since Christmas and it's not getting used, so I thought it'd be tasty. -jen
Doh! Forgot to put down what we were listening to while I baked last night! Kind of defeats the purpose of a punk rock cooking page, doesn't it? Then it'd just be a boring cooking blog that nobody followed... instead of a kick ass punk rock cooking blog... that nobody follows. And actually... we weren't even listening to punk rock while I baked. Had an electronic 80's Pandora station on - lots of Gary Numan, New Order, Depeche Mode.
Crust
Nonstickcooking spray
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, melted
Filling
2-1/4 pounds (4.5 bricks) cream cheese, room temp
1-2/3 cups granulated sugar
5 eggs, room temp
1 cup Peppermint Mocha Kahlua
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Coffee Whipped Cream
1 cup chilled whipping cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
For Crust: Preheat oven to 325 F. Coat 9-inch springform pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Combine crumbs and sugar in pan. Stir in butter. Press mixture into bottom and 1" up the sides of pan. Bake until light brown, about 7 minutes. Maintain oven temperature at 325 F.
For Filling: Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually mix in sugar. beat in eggs 1 at a time. Blend in Peppermint Mocha Kahlua and vanilla. Sprinkle half of the chocolate chips over crust. Spoon in filling. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips. Bake cake until puffed, springy in center and golden brown - about 1 hour 20 minutes. Cool cake completely.
For Whipped Cream: Beat cream, sugar and coffee powder until peaks form. Spread mixture over cooled cake.
This one isn't going to have the delicious coffee whipped cream because I'm taking it in to work. Going to try to get pictures of it out of the springform pan!
Song Title: Memphis Album: Indestructible (2003) Lyrics: "By the time we made it to New Orleans, it must have been half past three. By the time we made it to Memphis, we were crazy."
The song "Memphis" might be my favourite song off of the "Indestructible" album... though I suppose it depends on my mood. This song gets me going! This is the song that I play in the car as loud as my pathetic speakers will allow when I'm in a happy mood... but I will do the same thing with this song if I'm in a really pissed mood! Right from the start you're assaulted with a great, driving beat backed by what I can only describe as electric bagpipes?! When I get it loud enough... it kind of takes my breath away (awww). And then it inspires me to make some southern barbecue! Which I did... but for some reason, I was feeling like Asian food too, so it turned into Southern-Asian fusion! This came out so tasty! I'd never cooked meat in vinegar before and the flavour was so tangy, the meat was perfect and juicy, falling apart! I was almost sad to put the sauce on the meat because it was so good plain! We'll be making this again... and again! -jen
ASIAN BARBECUE PORK SANDWICHES
4-5 pound pork shoulder
4 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons minced ginger
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon chili paste
2 cups cider vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
Asian barbecue sauce
fresh sandwich rolls
shredded carrots
fresh cilantro
Cut pork shoulder into 2" steaks. In a bowl, combine garlic, ginger, sesame oil, fish sauce, and chili paste. Place pork steaks into slowcooker. Pour vinegar and soy sauce over steaks. Spread the garlic and ginger mix over the steaks. Cover and cook on high for 7 hours. Remove pork from slowcooker and shred. Drain liquid from slowcooker and put shredded pork back in. Begin mixing Asian barbecue sauce into the pulled pork. I suggest starting with about 1/2 a cup and adding more to your taste. I ended up adding about 3/4 cup sauce all together, as I don't like my barbecue real saucy; I like to be able to taste the meat's flavours. (And now I have a lot of leftover sauce to use for other barbecuing.) Rewarm pork and serve on a roll with spicy mayonnaise, shredded carrots and fresh cilantro.
Spicy Mayo = mayonnaise with sriracha hot sauce to taste.
ASIAN BARBECUE SAUCE
34 oz tomato sauce
6 oz can tomato paste
1 jar (8oz) Hoisen sauce
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons dark molasses
2 heaping tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
zest and juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon dried cilantro or oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon Chinese 5 Spice
1 teaspoon Pasilla chili powder
1 teaspoon New Mexico chili powder
2 chipotle peppers (from a can of Chipotle peppers in Adobo Sauce)
Whisk all ingredients in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
BAKED BEANS WITH BACON (Gotta give credit to my mom, Loretta, for these! I might have zipped them up a little, but she's been making kick ass baked beans my whole life and I got my base recipe from her!)
1/2 pound bacon, diced
1 can (1 pound 12oz) pork and beans in tomato sauce
1 can (15oz) kidney beans, drained
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1-1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon dark molasses
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon whiskey
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
black pepper to taste
Cook diced bacon over a medium-high heat until crispy. Remove from pan and set aside on a paper towel to drain. In an oven safe dish, combine all ingredients (including crumbled bacon). Cook at 325 F for 1 hour if you like your beans saucy, or for 1.5 hours if you like thick beans (which is how I like 'em!)
