Welcome to the third installment of “It Must Have Been Something We Ate”. We’re picking up where we left off in “Part 1” with black garlic recipes. As previously explained, these periodicals are to help highlight new start ups, people making cool food we think you should know about or maybe something available on the coast you need in your pantry. Shining a spotlight where we can.
I’ve been testing my way through 12 heads of “Potters Black Garlic” in an array of different recipes (I feel like Amy Adams in Julie & Juliet) and have the below results. Some of these could potentially be a bit challenging. Not because they’re necessarily difficult but more that the Coast Culinary Collective kitchen is fairly kitted out. More gadgets than most people, a ridiculous number of spices, dried goods, sauces, vinegars, etc, etc. I will do my best to offer options for adjusting the recipe in case you don’t have all the stuff.
If you’re looking to get your hands on some of this, contact our own local “Potters Black Garlic” and they can either sort you out directly or refer you to a place to purchase it. We’re fortunate to have this product in our community as it’s difficult to source in Vancouver never mind on the Sunshine Coast.
Chesnok Black Garlic BBQ Sauce
as adapted from “Earthy Delights”
I am not a fan of sweet BBQ sauces. I’ve made numerous efforts to find savory versions where they’ve omitted the molasses, brown sugar and ketchup but no luck. If you’re reading this and know of any, send them my way. This one has a bit of sweet to it but a few of the ingredients are on the salty side so there’s a balance.
I’ve been making a version of this for a long time but this is the first go with black garlic. Or Chinese “salted” rice cooking wine for that matter. Weird stuff in the best way. I also substituted buckwheat honey for normal honey as it’s less sweet and intensely flavoured. Earthy Delights used black bean paste but I didn’t have any on hand so subbed black bean Sauce with ginger and garlic. Lastly, I omitted the extra sugar. Hoisin Sauce is sweet on it’s own and Five Spice while not having any sugar nevertheless has a sweet personality. Here are both their version and mine. The method is the same for both. My first dish I’m making is a spin on Maui Ribs.
Ingredients (Earthy Delight)
1/2 cup Shao Xing “salted” rice wine or dry sherry
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
3 Tbsp honey
2/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
6 – 8 cloves black garlic, finely minced
2 tsp black bean paste
1/2 tsp 5 Spice Powder
Ingredients (Coast Culinary Collective)
1/2 cup Shao Xing “salted” rice wine (available at Fong’s Market)
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
3 Tbsp buckwheat honey
2/3 cup soy sauce
7 cloves black garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup black bean sauce
1/2 tsp 5 Spice Powder
Method
Combine all ingredients and simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat for 10 minutes or until it bubbles and begins to thicken slightly.
Cool, put into a clean jar and store in the refrigerator.
Roja Black Garlic Compound Butter
“Compound Butter” as per Wiki: Compound butters can be made at home or purchased commercially. A compound butter can be made by whipping additional elements, such as herbs, spices or aromatic liquids, into butter. The butter is then reformed, usually in plastic wrap or parchment paper, and chilled until it is firm enough to be sliced. These butters can be melted on top of meats and vegetables, used as a spread or used to finish various sauces.
That something so simple as compound butter could add so much extra to a dish is a great trick. This comes from a chef named Joshua Weissman. No changes made. No need. I have it in my fridge and it’s the bomb. Bonito flakes are dried, smoked shavings of tuna widely used in Japanese cooking. Fong’s Market carries it as does Gohan Ya in Wilson Creek.
Ingredients
- ½ lb softened butter, salted or plain
- 3 tbsp bonito flakes
- 2 cloves blackened garlic, chopped.
Method
Put the ingredients in a bowl and using a fork, mash them all together until well blended. Scoop everything onto a 40-60cm piece of clingwrap and then roll it into a tube, twisting the ends to get it tight. Think a “Tootsie Roll”.
Keep in the fridge or freezer and slices off discs as you need them Superb over grilled steak.
48 hr Chesnok & Roja Black Garlic Short Ribs
As adapted from a recipe from the Anova Sous Vide site. It was contributed by David LaForce.
This one is tricky if you don’t have a sous vide wand. Sous Vide is the cooking process whereby pouches of food items are immersed under water in a circulation bath at low and steady temperature. If you don’t have one of these, I’d suggest doubling the marinade and cooking in a Dutch oven or similar where the ribs are 1/2 to 3/4 covered by the marinade. Cook for 4hrs at 225F or until the meat is falling off the bone. After that, reduce the sauce until it’s a consistency you like.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Bone In Short Ribs
- 2 1/2 tbsp Red Miso Paste
- 2 tbsp Canola Oil
- 1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce
- 2Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar
- 2Tbsp Mirin
- 6 cloves each Roja and Chesnok Black Garlic, peeled and made into a paste
- 1/4 Cup Beef Stock
- Neutral Oil for Searing
- Salt & Pepper
Method
- Set your Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker to 140ºF / 60.0ºC
- Mix the next 6 ingredients (miso through garlic) together in a bowl to make the marinade.
- Sprinkle the short ribs liberally with salt. In a dutch oven over medium heat, add oil and sear on all sides. Do in batches as needed as you do not want to overcrowd and lower the temperature too much to inhibit searing.
- After searing is completed, deglaze the pan with the stock. Reduce by half and add to the marinade.
- Add marinade and short ribs to a Ziploc bag or vacuum seal bag. If using a Ziploc bag, lower into your container using the water displacement method. Sous vide for 48 hours.
We served the ribs with this polenta and the combination was perfection. The inclusion of the fresh corn and it’s liquid raised to dish substantially. I used cornmeal as it was what I had on hand and worked just fine.
Smoked Cheddar Polenta
As sourced from Mark Stark on Fine Cooking/ Moveable Feast
Ingredients
- 1 large ear corn, shucked and snapped in half
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup polenta (not quick cooking)
- 1 oz. extra sharp white cheddar, coarsely grated (1/4 cup)
- 1 oz. smoked cheddar, coarsely grated (1/4 cup)
- 1 Tbs. unsalted butter
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Chicken broth, as needed (optional)
Method
Position an oven rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350°F.
Using the coarse holes of a box grater, grate the corn directly into an oven-safe, 2- to 3-quart, heavy-duty saucepan. Add the milk and water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Slowly sprinkle in the polenta, whisking constantly (do not add quickly and all at once or it will become lumpy), until the mixture just begins to thicken, about 2 minutes. Cover pan tightly with a double layer of foil or a tight fitting lid, place in the oven, and bake for 45 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and whisk in the cheeses and butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper. The polenta should have the consistency of soft mashed potatoes. If not, adjust with more milk or chicken broth. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Serves 4