Eastern-North-Carolina-Inspired Vinegar BBQ Sauce

Who doesn't love a good Eastern NC style vinegar-based BBQ sauce?  We had tons of pulled pork from huge pork butt around the house that I'd done tons of things with--arepas,pupusas, sopes--and I was starting to get a bit tired of it.  Finally, I decided to go ahead and make a nice sauce and make a sandwich the old fashioned way.

This NC-inspired sauce is sure to be a favorite. It's tangy, spicy, and a little sweet.  More than anything, let's not forget that you can make it in a flash!  The two secrets to my version are a touch of ketchup, which is anything but traditional, Worcestershire, and molasses, another twist I brought in.  The ketchup creates an additional layer of sweet tangy-ness, while the Worcestershire and molasses provide some added depth of flavor.  A tinge of garlic flavor rounds out the great flavor of my Carolina vinegar BBQ sauce.  Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 cup cider vinegar
1 generous TB red pepper flakes
2 TB brown sugar
1 tsp ketchup
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp molasses
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 garlic clove, split (remove this once enough garlic flavor infuses into the sauce

Procedure
Place all ingredients in a non-reactive sauce pot over medium heat.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, to allow sugar to dissolve and flavors to blend.

Remove from heat Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature and enjoy.  It's as simple as that!  Since this sauce is vinegar-based it will keep well too.  What more could you ask for?

*This sauce is best when stored at room temperature*

Mini Moist, Buttery Caramel Fig Cakes

*photos shown are without caramel sauce*

I was craving something sweet with a rich flavor tonight, but I didn't want to make a full-sized cake.  Inspired by Hog's Head Cafe's pineapple upside down cake which is topped in a beautiful caramelized sugar syrup, I decided to bake mine flan style with a sugar syrup in the bottom of the pan.  I made this recipe off the top of my head, just bearing in mind that I wanted a nice rich flavor and moist texture.  I always start with one cup of flour for four ramekins and usually 1-1/2 tsp baking powder, and I went from there.  When I opened the fridge for the milk, I saw the fig jam so I went for it. The result is a wonderful buttery flavored cake with a very tender crumb and a sticky glazed bottom.

The flavor has a nice rich, buttery taste in the foreground and a mild, dark fig flavor in the background.  Serve it inverted to display the caramelized-sugar-coated top.  This recipe is perfect for four ramekins. Enjoy this deliciously delectable cake, mmm, mm, mmmmm!  It would surely be a crowd leaser with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream, and maybe even a capful of dark rum drizzled on top.  In less than 30 minutes you'll be ready to go!


*of course if you want this to be a full size cake, double everything and there you'll have it*
Ingredients
1 cup flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2c + 2TB milk
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 TB dark fig spread (mine is Trader Joe's fig)
2 tsp dark rum (I prefer Barbancourt)
1/2 tsp vanilla

sugar syrup
1c brown sugar
1/4c water (or less, just enough to moisten the sugar, the goal is a thick syrup)
2 tsp dark rum (Barbancourt preferred)
dash of salt

Procedure

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees with a water bath pan in place.
A water bath just means that you will place a pan large enough to fit your ramekins into the oven and fill it with water after having placed it into the oven (as this avoids spills).  The water bath prevents the crystallization of the caramelized sugar syrup and keeps it in liquid state.

2. Stir together flour, salt, and baking powder

3. Meanwhile, prepare caramelized sugar syrup in a sauce pan over low to medium low heat.  Do not stir, swirl pan to blend ingredients then let boil until thickened

4. Immediately coat ramekins or mini pans with sugar syrup, swirling to coat generously on the sides and bottom.

5. Blend sugar with melted butter, oil, and rum

6. Alternate blending flour and milk by thirds with a spoon, starting and ending with flour

7. Stir in egg

8. Stir in fig jam and vanilla

9. Divide batter evenly into all four ungreased ramekins or mini pans

10. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the center of the cake springs back when pressed

Sopes Mexicanos! Delicious Stuffed Open-Faced Fried Taco Shells

Sopes, also known as pellizcadas, migadas, or picadas, are a delicious traditional Mexican antojito, or appetizer.  They are very easy to make, bursting with flavor, and full of great textural variety.  The outside freshly-cooked white corn tortillas are pinched up to create shallow edges that hold in mounds of varied toppings.

Though you may not have heard of sopes before if you like tacos, tortas, or pupusas then you will love these!  Try this easy, tasty snack and you and your friends and family are sure to enjoy them.  Traditionally, the filling for this dish is refried beans, carne asada, chopped onion, shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, salsa roja (spicy roasted red sauce, not the kind at the store).  However, to make this dish more accessible, I will provide a modified variation using ingredients easily found in your pantry.

Ingredients and Procedure
*the ingredients are broken into sections, be sure that you have noted them all*


Sopes
Maseca brand masa flour
Goya or Maggi brand chicken bouillon powder, to taste
salt to taste

1. Pour an adequate amount of Maseca flour for your desired portion into a bowl.  Season with salt and chicken bouillon.  use enough bouillon to lightly sprinkle over the top of your flour.

2. Prepare masa, or dough, by blending in warm water with clean hands until a soft, moist dough is formed.  The dough should not be wet, just moist.  Oil your hands to avoid drying of the dough and press the dough into a circle the size of the palm of your hands.  These should be taco-sized tortillas, not the larger burrito-sized.

3.  Cook over low heat on an ungreased pan until very gently browned on both sides.  

4. Immediately press up the edges of the tortilla when still hot off of the pan.  You can use parchment paper or a paper towel to aid in this process since the tortilla will be very hot.

5. Meanwhile, heat about a 1/4 of oil to medium high heat in a separate pan.  If you are not making a large amount, you can use a medium sauce pot to save oil.  Fry on the bottom first until golden brown, flip onto the other side and allow to fry until golden brown.

6. Pat oil on the inside and outside dry.

Meat Marinade
flank steak
fresh lime juice
fresh garlic, minced
onion (optional)
jalapeno
beer (optional)
salt
pepper

If using beer, blend all ingredients into a homogeneous liquid. Otherwise, rub blended seasoning into a paste and coat meat.  Marinade for two hours.  Chop into bite-sized pieces and cook well-done on a grill over charcoal or in a pan with oil over medium heat.  If you have a cast-iron skillet or griddle, it would be best to use those.

refried beans
1. Coat a pan with oil in a pan over medium heat and sautee onion and garlic
2. Add washed and previously cooked or canned beans, stirring frequently and salt to taste
3. Once oil is absorbed, mash the beans with a wooden spoon or place in a blender until a paste is formed




Toppings
refried beans (I went without because I didn't have them and it was still yummy!)

marinated beef (chopped)
          - I used shredded Cuban-style marinated pork since that is what I had on hand)

white or red onion, chopped or sliced

shredded mild white cheese or cheese blend, to taste

diced tomato (optional)

radish, finely sliced (optional)

fresh or store-bought salsa (pico de gallo) or tomatillo salsa (salsa verde)

1 slice of lime per person for drizzling


Assembly
1. If using, spread a spoonful of refried beans on the bottom of the fried sope

2. Top with cooked carne asada

3. Sprinkle a little raw onion

4. Top with shredded lettuce

5. Drizzle with sauce

6. Sprinkle cheese

7. Top with two to three slices of radish, if using

 Enjoy!


***Source of photos:
  http://www.loscabosmagazine.com/clientphotos/elcomal/pics/sopes-cochinita_7006_r2.jpg
They are not my property.

Southern Browned Flour Gravy

My grandmother would always make a quick browned flour gravy to go along with our hoe cakes.  This is a very simple gravy that does not require meat broth and tastes great with fresh, fluffy hoe cakes.

Ingredients 
flour
a few TB butter
milk to reach desired texture
desired seasoning (salt, pepper, Lawry's seasoned salt, sage, rosemary, garlic cloves, onion, etc)

Procedure
1. Brown flour in an ungreased pan over medium-low heat until it reaches a color very similar to cocoa powder, a light reddish brown.

2. Once flour is browned, add in any butter that you will be using for flavoring and stir until homogeneous.  Incorporate any spices at this point as well.  If you are adding onion, cook until soft.

3. Gradually stir in milk until desired consistency is reached, bearing in mind that the gravy will thicken.

4.  Bring the gravy to a boil for about 1-2 minutes, until thickened.  If too thick, add additional milk and stir until homogeneous.  Serve.