Jack is Cooking Sancocho

Well Hello Internet!


a few weeks ago, i made a delicious South American/Caribbean dish called Sancocho.  There are many different ways to make this dish, each one unique to the particular country that makes it.  


The recipe that i made was a Colombian version i believe.  its pretty easy to make, it just takes a couple of hours.  heres what you'll need:


1 head of garlic
3 medium carrots, chopped
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 small Spanish onion, chopped
1 habenero chile, chopped
2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 gallon water
1.5 tablespoons glace de poulet
1 tablespoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper
1 (3 to 4-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces (with bones!!!)
1 small yucca, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 green plantain, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
10-12 small purple potatoes, halved
2 ripe plantains, peeled and cut into 3-inch pieces
3 ears corn, cut in 3 pieces

First! saute the garlic, carrots, peppers, onion, chile and 1 cup of cilantro with some olive oil until everything is tender.

next take all these soft veggies, and a little of the water and puree them in a blender:

Then, in a really big pot, mix the puree with the water, glace de poulet, cumin, and season with salt and pepper. Bring this to a boil and then simmer for about 30 minutes.

Add the chicken and simmer for another 20 minutesish

add in the yucca and the green plantain (chop this into bite size pieces) and simmer for 20 minutes more. then add the potatoes, the ripe plantain, and the corn and simmer for another 30 minutes.

In a blender, combine the remaining 1 cup cilantro and a little of the stew broth and puree.  mix into the stew, and season with some salt and pepper.  


serve in a bowl, making sure that everybody gets a little of everything!  this makes quite a bit of soup, and can be frozen in the freezer to enjoy at a later date!

mmmm mmmmm delicious!

Jack is Cooking Mostly Macro Banh Mi

Well Hello Internet!

its been a couple of weeks, and i have a few posts lingering that i have to put up! but heres a quick one in the mean time.  Last night for dinner i made some Mostly Macrobiotic (almost but not quite) Vietnamese Sandwiches (otherwise known as Banh Mi)

i made them with tempeh instead of the roast pork that is normally in these delicious sandwiches, but i tailored this tempeh to be just as delicious.  

heres what you'll need:

for the carrots:

2 carrots julienned

1 daikon julienned

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 tablespoons rice syrup

some salt

for the tempeh:

1 package of tempeh

2 tablespoons of ketchup

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 inches of ginger

2-3 cloves of garlic

half a lemon 

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 tablespoon hot sesame oil

for the sandwiches:

baguettes

spicy mayonaise (mayonaise + sriracha)

cilantro

cucumbers

onion

So First make the carrot slaw

to do this put the water, vinegar and rice syrup in pan and bring to a boil.  transfer to a bowl and let it cool down.  put in the carrots, and the daikon with some salt.  i put in some dried cranberries for some extra goodness too.  let this sit for 30 minutes to an hour, turning every now and then.

While these are festering we can cook the tempeh.  first its good to steam it.  Tempeh is always better steamed first.  so while its steaming, prepare the sauce.  put the ketchup, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, olive oil, lemon juice, and apple cider vinegar together in pan and stir and cook until it boils.

yay!  this is an awesome BBQ sauce, good to put on any kind of meat, or tempeh to make it taste more like BBQ.

 when the tempeh has steamed for 20 minutes or so, pour this sauce all over it, and then cook it in a skillet for about 15 minutes at a medium heat.  now the tempeh is all done!

now all to do is to make the sandwich! so toast the baguette, slather on some spicy mayonnaise (you can make it more or less spicy by the amount of sriracha sauce you put on)  put some tempeh on the roll, then the onions, the cucumbers, some of the carrots and daikon, and top it off with a bunch of cilantro!

the word is that this is as good or better than any of the sandwich places!  (except Nicky's of course.  that place is the bomb.  but they should make a tempeh sandwich for a veggie option instead of a portabello...)

mmm mmmm delicious!