After picking up a bunch of mangoes at the local market I began to do some research. I figured that it would be very similar in nature to apple butter, so after reviewing a half dozen recipes online I made some notes and got to work.

For the first batch I decided that I wanted to use honey as a sweetener rather than sugar and, for reasons unknown, I decided to throw some cinnamon in the mix. After about ten hours of cooking, I pureed the mixture, strained it and gave it a try. It was good, but not nearly what I expected. The cinnamon was a horrible idea and the honey really overpowered things.

My second attempt was even less successful as I made a smaller batch and didn’t account for the difference in volume in the cooking time. As a result I caramelized the sugar to the point that when the purported vanilla mango butter was cold it tasted more like plum than mango. Needless to say this batch was nothing like I had intended. To top things off, a few days later I had a kitchen mishap that cost my slow cooker its life.

Finally, the third time was the charm when I made a batch that was perfect in both color and flavor. Using just pure cane sugar, vanilla bean paste, a pinch of sea salt and a dozen mangoes I cooked this batch on low heat in my cast iron dutch oven for roughly eight hours.

If I had to critique the third batch I wish I had cooked it at a slightly higher temperature, as it did not reduce as much as I would have liked. However, I was very concerned about caramelized the sugars again and turning the vanilla mango butter from a bright yellow to a dark brown color.

Once I was done experimenting I had to figure out what to do with everything I had made. Obviously, canning was going to be the best way to preserve the various batches and I ended up finding a great tutorial on canning over on Southern Plate that helped me get it all done relatively easily.

After all the trial and error had concluded what remained was a delicious substance that was great in both sweet and savory applications.

Vanilla Mango Butter

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12 mangoes
2 cups cane sugar
3 tablespoons vanilla bean paste
1 teaspoon sea salt

Assemblage

1. Cook in a cast iron dutch oven at 180 degrees to 7 to 8 hours
2. Puree with an immersion (stick) blender or allow to cool and transfer in batches to a blender
3. Run puree through a fine mesh strainer to remove any lumps and fibers from the mango
4. Return puree to dutch oven and cook at 280 degrees uncovered to 1 to 2 hours

Makes approximately ten to twelve 8 ounce jars of sauce

After making it the first time and watching it rapidly disappear from the refrigerator I decided to make a larger batch since pork shoulder was on sale. Also, I still had plenty of duck fat left over that I needed to put to use. As the pork simmered in the bath of duck fat and homemade chicken stock I pondered what I was going to do with three plus pounds of rillette.

Well, as luck would have it, my son’s third birthday party was about a week away and I decided that I was going to be my normal outlandish self and serve a pork rillette canape to our guests. The big question in my mind was how would I present it?

I had picked up some apple butter and crusty bread after the first batch of pork rillette was ready, as I was hoping that something slightly sweet would help cut through the richness of the rillette. Fortunately, apple is always a good pairing with pork and the apple butter did exactly what I had hoped. So, with that in mind I decided to create an apple puree that would be the base of the canape.

About the same time I was reading a post about pork pate on Wrightfood, the same blog where I discovered the pork rillette recipe, and was immediately drawn to the idea of a red onion confit as way to top things off. I used port wine as my red for the recipe and the syrupy sweetness from the port and earthiness from the balsamic were a great choice.

Finally, I need to determine the vessel on which to serve these and my immediate thought was to make gourgeres out of some pate a choux dough, splitting them in half to make little sandwiches. However, the thought of making 50-75 puffs wasn’t terribly appealing considering this was just one of many things I needed to make for the party.

My next thought was to just make some crostini out of a baguette, but then while shopping for other party menu supplies inspiration struck in the frozen food aisle – Phyllo cups! Not only were they the perfect size, but they didn’t require any baking. Ten minutes out of the freezer and they were ready to be filled with the various layers.

The pork rillette canapes were quite a hit, even if they were well beyond the standard fare expected at a three year olds birthday party.

Apple Puree

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3 Apples (I used Braeburns)
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
2 sprigs of thyme
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups apple cider (or water)

Assemblage

• Peel, core and dice the apples into 1 inch cubes
• Melt the butter in a large saucepan and saute the apples
• Add the honey, vanilla bean, thyme (leaves removed from stems) and salt; then cook for five to seven minutes
• Add the vinegar, then turn the heat up and cook until it has nearly evaporated
• Pour in the apple cider and bring to a boil and cook until the cider is evaporated
• Remove from heat and allow to cool; transfer to a blender (or use an immersion blender) and puree to desired consistency
• Refrigerate until ready to assemble pork rillette canapes

For the pork rillette and red onion confit recipes, please visit Wrightfood.

Still, I wanted to do something to give them a little more nutrition, so I dug deep into my bag of tricks and decided to throw ricotta cheese into the mix to give them a little more protein. When my wife was pregnant with him I used to make her these tasty, yet dense, ricotta pancakes from a recipe in a pregnancy cookbook I bought.

It’s been a while since I’ve made those and I really wanted to find a way to lighten them up a little. After doing a little research on the Internet I found the framework I was looking for in a recipe on Food and Wine’s website and went to work.

A lot of mixing, whisking, beating and flipping later I put a light, yet flavorful stack of whole wheat and oatmeal ricotta pancakes on our kitchen table and the family went to work on them. After her first bite my wife remarked that they were as light as air.

Upon further investigation she decided that I had just made the Krispy Kreme of pancakes. And, at the risk of sounding like a braggart, she was right. They practically melted into your mouth so much so that chewing was almost optional.

I’m not going to lie, that was one of my proudest moments as the family chef.

Whole Wheat and Oatmeal Ricotta Pancakes

adapted from a Food and Wine recipe

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¾ cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt
3 large eggs, separated
1 ¾ cups milk
¾ cup part skim ricotta cheese
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon melted butter
fresh banana slices (optional)

Assemblage

• Combine whole wheat flour, oatmeal, baking powder and salt in a bowl, then set aside
• Whisk together the egg yolks, milk, ricotta cheese, sugar, vanilla extract and butter
• Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until smooth
• Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then fold the egg whites into the rest of the batter until no streaks remain
• Ladle out a ¼ cup of batter onto a hot griddle or pan and cook until the bottom is golden brown and the top has just begun to set (1 to 2 minutes), then flip to finish

Variations on a Theme

When I was making the original ricotta cheese pancakes for my wife they were sweetened with orange marmalade rather than sugar. The hint of orange was nice and I think that the next time I make these I will use orange extract instead of vanilla and will grate in some orange zest to enhance things. You could also exchange the banana for any type of fresh fruit that you choose.

The first thing we needed to do in our efforts to mash up a holiday staple with the Latin American favorite was to figure out how to lighten up the gingerbread, as it can be quite a dense cake thanks to the molasses. With only one egg in the recipe my wife uses I knew that simply separating it and whipping the egg white wouldn’t be enough. I sought out instructions for a way to turn it into a sponge cake and was quite pleased when I found a Gingerbread Chiffon Sponge Cake recipe on Food.com.

The next thing on the list was to figure out the formulation of milks. I reviewed a number of recipes to determine the appropriate ratio between the three milks and how best to substitute the egg nog for the heavy cream. In the end I just winged it.

Finally, we decided not to frost the cake like a traditional tres leches and instead made a quick nutmeg scented whipped cream to serve with the cake.

A few hours after assembling the cake we got a chance to try it. One word: Amazing.

Gingernog Tres Leches Cake

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140 g (2/3 cup) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
4 eggs, separated
110 g (1/2 cup) sugar
85 g (1/3 cup) melted unsalted butter
55 g (1/4 cup) molasses
1 tablespoon rum
55 g (1/4 cup) evaporated milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz – by weight)
1 cup egg nog
1/2 cup evaporated milk

Assemblage

• Grease and line a 9×9 baking dish. Preheat oven to 320°F.
• Sieve flour, ginger, soda together and set aside.
• Beat egg yolks and sugar till very pale and fluffy.Gradually add in melted butter. Add in molasses, rum and milk. Mix well with electric mixer. Pour in sifted dry ingredients and mix.
• In a clean bowl whisk egg whites and the 1 tsp of sugar till foamy. Add in cream of tartar and whisk till stiff peaks form.
• Fold egg whites into cake batter and incorporate well. Pour into tin and bake for around 20-25 minutes (depending on your oven) or till a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
• Cool for 10 to 15 minutes, then use a fork to perforate the cake
• Pour the milk mixture over the cake about a third at a time allowing for absorption.
• Cover, then refrigerate for at least six hours or even overnight

Nutmeg Scented Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoons fresh ground nutmeg
Pinch of salt

Add all ingredients to a medium sized bowl and with a whisk or a hand mixer beat it until stiff peaks form.

* = the original recipe was detailed by weight in grams. The grams to cups conversion has not been tested and are an approximation. They may not be entirely accurate due to the differences between weight and volume measure. Whenever possible you should bake using units of weight rather than volume.

I’ve grated a granny smith apple into the mix, tried the zest and juice from various citrus fruits and even added small amounts of cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg. They were all good, but I still felt I could do a little better.

This year I think I’ve finally found the right mix of things. Not that it will stop me from experimenting again next year.

grand marnier scented cranberry sauce

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• 1 bag cranberries, washed
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• Zest and juice of one orange
• 1 vanilla bean split and scraped
• 1 shot Grand Marnier liqueur
• Pinch of kosher salt

assemblage

1. Bring the water to a boil and dissolve the cup of sugar
2. Add the cranberries let them cook for five to seven minutes
3. As the cranberries begin to swell and burst add the orange zest and juice and vanilla bean pulp (you can also toss in the actual beans for a few minutes if you want)
4. Stir to combine and cook for three more minutes
5. Pour in the shot of Grand Marnier and cook for about a minute, add the kosher salt and then remove from the heat
6. Allow to cool before refrigerating
7. Can be made a day or two in advance

Over the past few years I’ve roasted, smoked and prepared an osso bucco style turkey to keep things interesting at Thanksgiving. This year I mixed up my menu yet again by preparing a braised stuffed turkey breast.

I was inspired to stuff a turkey breast after reading Chef Mario Batali‘s recipe for tacchino ripieno (stuffed turkey with prunes), however I decided to use my grandmother’s Italian stuffing recipe as the filling. To that I added a thin layer of pancetta, then rolled it up and braised it in wine and stock.

braised stuff turkey breast

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• 1 butterflied turkey breast
• 1 to 2 cups stuffing (use your family favorite)
• 1/4 pound thinly sliced pancetta
• 1 medium onion
• 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup turkey or chicken stock
• 2 cups red or white wine
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil
• butchers twine

assemblage

• Using a meat tenderizer, pound the butterflied turkey breast down until the thickness is even
• Spread a thin layer of stuffing across the whole breast

• Then layer on the pancetta

• Roll it up and tie tightly with butchers twine in several places

• Rub it down with olive oil and sear on all sides, then remove from the pan or dutch oven
• Add the onions, celery, carrots and garlic and saute for five to six minutes, or until fragrant
• Return the turkey breast to the pan or dutch oven, then add the stock and the wine

• Bring the liquid to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer for 75 to 90 minutes
• Remove from braising liquid and allow to rest for a few minutes
• Cut the breast into slices, removing the twine as you go to help keep it together

presentation

I simply plated this up by putting two slices on a plate and saucing it with a pearl onion and cranberry sauce that I first discovered a few years ago in Charlotte magazine.

Earlier this year I caught an interesting recipe on Mark Bittman’s blog for Coconut Braised Beef. It was a rather simple recipe using coconut milk to braise some cubed chuck.

Not long after discovering it I made it for dinner one night and it was good, but not great. Personally I’m not as much of a fan of braised beef as I am pork. I think it is a textural thing.

Deciding that I needed to try it again with pork, I also decided to add a little more of my style to the dish. I added mango to the mix, as well as some lemongrass. Also, to make the presentation more appealing (my wife loves color) I diced some mango, scallions red bell pepper to make it look festive.

The results of this experiment were phenomenal and, according to my wife, this vaulted to the top of her favorite things that I make. After nearly six years together and a lot of kitchen adventures I felt that was a rather impressive accomplishment.

Personally, I’m not much of a fan of a lot of sauce on my dishes, but the braising liquid reduction with pureed mango was very silky and would taste good on a car bumper.

The residual heat from the chili powder and sriracha added a nice, light bite. If you prefer your food more spicy, then I would recommend at least doubling what I used.

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• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 tablespoons ginger, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons sriracha sauce
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 limes, zested and juiced
• 1/2 cup peanuts, crushed, 1/4 cup reserved
• 2 pounds boneless country pork ribs, cubed*
• 2 cans coconut milk, 1 can reserved
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 stalks lemongrass, roughly chopped
• 4 sprigs fresh cilantro
• 2 mangoes, 1 1/2 roughly chopped, 1/2 finely diced
  1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup agave nectar (or 1/3 cup brown sugar)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 bunch scallions, bias cut
• salt and pepper, to taste

assemblage

• In a medium size bowl combine the first eight ingredients to form a loose paste, then saute for two to three minutes on the stovetop
• Add the cubed pork and stir to combine until the meat is coated in the paste
• Pour the coconut milk and water into the pan and cook for two to three minutes before pouring the mixture into a slow cooker
• Add the lemongrass, cilantro sprigs and roughly chopped mango
• Cover and cook for about eight hours on low
• When the pork is finished, separate the solids from braising liquid, wrap the pork in aluminum foil and reserve the mango pieces
• Pour the strained braising liquid in a medium sauce pot and add the second can of coconut milk, orange juice, agave nectar (or brown sugar) and reduce by half
• Add the reserved mango pieces and hit it with the boat motor (immersion blender), or allow to cool then transfer to a regular blender
• If allowed to cool, return the reduction sauce back to the sauce pan and bring back to a simmer, otherwise, add braised pork into the reduction and stir to coat completely

presentation

I served this braised pork very simply with some brown and red basmati rice and a few garnishes. Plating it up consisted of putting the rice in the center of a shallow bowl, a serving of the pork, a healthy drizzle of the sauce, then topping it all off with the diced mango and red bell pepper, reserved crushed peanuts and scallions.

* I used bone in country ribs because I didn’t find any boneless that I cared for. You could also cube up a pork shoulder that you’ve trimmed of any excess fat.

Late last week I was reading the blog of food author Michael Ruhlman, a favorite of mine, and he had a video post on how to make sausage. While I wouldn’t consider myself an expert by any means, I feel am a seasoned sausage maker.

My cold smoked barbecue sausage is easily my favorite cased creation. It takes nearly two days to create a batch, but when they grill up with that beautiful mahogany color it makes it all worth while.

Still, I’m always up to see if I can learn any new tricks, and as I was watching his video the sausage recipe he included in the post caught my eye – Chicken Sausage with Basil and Tomatoes.

All of a sudden inspiration struck and evil plans immediately began constructing themselves in my head. I decided that I would cash in some of my contest winnings and experiment with a sausage recipe based on my prize winning chicken dish.

With the exception of a German weisswurst I made for Christmas a few years back I have only ever used pork as the base for my sausages. Since I haven’t made any sausage in a few months I was intrigued by the possibilities of using chicken.

I set out to build my base ingredient list and decided that instead of using chicken skin or substituting pork back fat that I would use pancetta, which would also replace the proscuitto in the braciole di pollo recipe. Next I eliminated the bread crumbs because they made no sense to include and I substituted ricotta salata (you could characterize it as Italian feta) for the fontina cheese.

After procuring all the ingredients, I cubed the meat (the chicken and the pancetta) and seasoned it with salt, fresh ground black pepper and finely minced garlic overnight. Father’s Day afternoon I mixed in the remaining ingredients I had planned and ground it up.

With all the ingredients mixed together and ground, I cooked up a quick patty to test my seasoning and to ensure my concept was as good in practice as it appeared to be in theory.

The seasoning was perfect and the results were phenomenal.

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4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed
1 pound pancetta, cubed *
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic, finely minced
1 cup arugula, chopped, tightly packed
1/2 cup parmesan reggiano, grated
1/2 cup ricotta salata, grated
1/2 cup golden raisins, macerated in 1/4 cup white wine
Zest and juice of a lemon

Assemblage

• Cube the chicken and pancetta, then season with the salt, pepper and garlic (allow to sit overnight, if possible)
• Remove mixture from refrigerator and mix in the remaining ingredients
• Grind using a fine plate, then fry up a test patty in a frying pan with some oil to test seasoning and adjust accordingly
• Return ground mixture to refrigerator for about an hour
• Case the mixture using a medium size hog casing **

* If you don’t consume pork for dietary or religious purposes you can substitute the pancetta for beef fat.

** You can also either not case the mixture and keep it loose, or substitute natural sheep casings or even synthetic ones, such as collagen casings.

Related articles by Zemanta

• braciole di pollo (peachesenrisotto.com)
• Italian braciole recipe for dummies (slideshare.net)
• I’m the Chicken King! (realmendriveminivans.com)

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• 4 pound ribeye roast
• 4 cloves, garlic
• 3 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 3 sprigs, rosemary
• 3 sprigs, thyme
• 1/4 cup flatleaf parsley
• 1/2 cup parmesan reggiano
• olive oil, as needed
• salt and pepper, to taste

assemblage

• Add the garlic through parmesan cheese into a food processor and pulse to combine
• Slowly drizzle olive oil while the food processor is running until a moist paste develops
• Using a spatula smear the paste all over the roast

• Put the roast on a roasting pan and cook in a 350 degree oven until it reaches the desired internal temperature.
• I pulled it at 145 degree and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Slice and enjoy!

Braciole di Pollo from PJ Mullen on Vimeo.

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Braciole di Pollo

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved horizontally
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup parmesan reggiano, grated
1/2 cup fontina cheese, grated
1 cup arugala, finely chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins, macerated in white wine (optional) and chopped
zest and juice of a lemon
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 pound proscuitto, sliced paper thin
butchers twine
Olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan Herb Polenta

1 cup polenta
4 cups milk (or water, or chicken stock)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup parmesan reggiano cheese, grated
1/2 cup fontina cheese, grated
2 tablespoons basil, finely chopped
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Roasted Tomato Puree

6-8 tomatoes, cored (about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds) and roasted
1 head garlic, halved and roasted
2 tablespoons plus 1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup blanched and dry roasted almonds
1/4 cup blanched and dry roasted hazelnuts
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons dry red wine, if necessary
1 slice day old bread, if necessary

assemblage

Braciole di Pollo

• Cut the chicken breasts in half horizontally, then use a meat tenderizer to flatten into thin cutlets
• Combine the bread crumbs, cheeses, arugala, lemon zest and juice, golden raisins, garlic and eggs in a medium mixing bowl
• Spread a tablespoon or so of the bread crumb and cheese mixture over the chicken cutlet, lay a slice of proscuitto on top, then roll up
• Tie the chicken up with some butchers twine, then place it in a roasting pan or Pyrex dish
• Drizzle olive oil over the chicken, then season liberally with salt and pepper
• Roast in a 350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes, depending on your oven.

Parmesan Herb Polenta

• In a medium saucepan add the milk and polenta and bring to slow boil while stirring frequently, about 15 minutes
• Stir in the cheeses, butter, herbs, salt and pepper
• Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary
• If the polenta is too thick, add milk a little at a time until you achieve the consistency you desire

Roasted Tomato Puree

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees
• Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil over the cored tomatoes and halved garlic head in a non reactive pan and roast for 45 to 60 minutes, then remove and allow to cool
• Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan over medium heat and toast the hazelnuts and almonds until golden brown (5 to 6 minutes) while shaking the pan frequently to avoid burning, then set aside to cool
• Add the cooled tomatoes, garlic, hazelnuts and almonds in a food processor and pulse until combined
• Slowly drizzle 1/3 of a cup olive oil in a steady stream, then add the vinegar, salt and pepper
• Continue to process until it comes together, but still retaining a coarse texture
• Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary
• If the sauce appears to be too thick add some of the red wine a little at a time, if too thin then add a little of the bread until it reaches the consistency you desire

presentation

I’ve plated this up two ways before, individually and family style. For both I lay down a foundation of polenta in the middle of a plate or serving platter, then ladle on the roasted tomato puree. For the individual plating place a whole braciole right on top, while for the family style I slice up the braciole and rest them on top. A nice finishing touch is some chiffenaded basil and some freshly grated hazelnut.