Sunday, June 19, 2011

Healing Potion: Dos Pistolas


Dos Pistolas Gold
Originally uploaded by ericmonasterio
Banana infused whiskey by my brother. Although he sometimes makes a rum version

Dos Pistolas Gold

other limited editions

2pistolas 1/8

custom seals

Round objects

wax seal of quality

Fat bottom

and in emergency size

Whiskey Dos Pistolas

The recipe is secret but one picture from our spy camera reveals some of the early process, just this time with Rum

Ron Dos Pistolas

before and after

Taste Test

All pictures pilfered from my brothers flickr sets.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Paella negra con esparagos


Paella negra con esparagos
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo
Black rice paella with white asparagus.

I made a small paella for lunch. I wanted to make a very dark inky rice, some of my previous attempts yielded a rice much more on the grey side, so for this dish I used a much more generous amount of ink. This paella also ends up being meatless, vegetarian friendly if you don't mind seafood products.
The ingredients are few:

Asparagus, these are very high quality canned white asparagus

cojonudos

quality assurance tab

denominacion de origen

abierta

You should taste the liquid the asparagus come canned or jarred in. If it tastes good, not overly salty or metallic tasting then save it and use it as part of your liquid for the rice. This liquid was saved and used. (about 3/4 cup)

I also used a high quality cuttlefish/squid ink. I've used the little envelopes before and they are just ok, this really has a great squid aroma, and also I believe, a higher protein/collagen content. It is thicker and ends up being very unctuous in the finished product.

cuttlefish ink

I used a cup and a half of bomba rice

Paella Rice

I used hot pimenton as I figured the heat would go well with the ink and scarcity of ingredients

pimenton picante




Chopped onions and garlic round up the ingredients.

onions

Preparation; I heated up a small paella pan

Paella

Added olive oil and sauteed the onions and garlic

onion and garlic

as soon as the garlic began to brown I added the rice and sauteed it with the onions and garlic

sofriendo el arroz

After half a minute or so I added the pimenton, about one teaspoon

pimenton added

I mixed it in and quickly added my liquid (the pimenton can burn and turn bitter rather quickly) which was just the asparagus water and regular water to make up 3 times the rice volume, so in this case 4 and a half cups

liquid added

I then added two heaping teaspoons of the ink

two teaspoons

I mixed to incorporate and tasted for salt.

boil

The ink adds a bit of salt but it still needed a pinch more. I let it boil on the stovetop and the color began to set

rice cooking

It was very fragrant, smelling of the sea with clearly noticeable squid aroma.
When the rice was nearly dry I added the asparagus over top, they are already cooked so just need to warm up a bit.

Paella negra hecha

Served the dish was excellent, a very unctuous mouth feel, almost silky awesome ocean taste with a nice texture and taste contrast from the asparagus.

Paella negra plated

Clearly the rice turned a deep shiny black which I really liked. The ink would also make a great base for a pasta sauce. May have to buy some squid bodies and stuff them with the leftover rice, they would be nice grilled. Excellent dish overall.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Black Sheep without the excess


sausage and pork platter
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo
We ventured back to Black Sheep for lunch, on a sweltering weekday afternoon, we arrived just about 11:45 for lunch and strolled right in. We where a bit surprised as previous visits it has been packed. Probably the heat keeping people out. Anyway better for us. We settled in and reminisced on our previous visit. We decided to avoid another giant battleship and ordered.
We went with the Sausage and pork platter (not really the name of the dish but I can't remember it officially)

sausage and pork platter

The sausage was very tasty, but the pork was perfect, pulled but chunky perfectly flavored.
I went with a side of corn pudding.

Corn Pudding

just the right sweetness with great flavor.
My fellow lunchers ordered the
Green Eggs and Ham

Green Eggs & Ham

described as awesome by the eater and by the menu "Three eggs scrambled with a basil pesto, spinach & pancetta.
Garnished with shredded parmesan & green tomato sauce. Served over grilled french bread"

and then the Barn and Bay breakfast sandwich
"Scrambled eggs mixed with crabmeat, country ham, green onion & swiss cheese on buttered & griddled texas toast."

Barn and Bay Breakfast Sandwich

Described as "by the way... this is awesome"
Even without the spectacle the food is great, service was prompt and we hesitated to head back out into the heat.


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