ANCIENT FIRE WING SAUCE

“Fire in the Hole!” We have a wing sauce from ‘Buen Apetito; ‘Ancient Fire Wing Sauce”, that will satisfy any heat seeker with flavor and fire power. The hot sauce challenged need not proceed on this journey. This wing sauce is rocket fueled with habanero and cayenne peppers. The pepper heat is flavored with orange juice and orange peels. Habanero peppers do have a fruity taste and oranges will compliment this unique concoction.

It has been raining cats & dogs here in sunny California so we will be cooking our wings in the oven. The wings were separated and the tips removed. A dusting of salt & pepper will season.  Then place wings on a cookie rack on a foil lined baking sheet. To a 375 degree oven  for an hour and turning once should brown your wings nicely. Toss your hot and cooked wings in a sauce lined bowl. Serve immediately and wait for the fire alarm to go off.
  Buen Apetito once again has created a fun and tasty sauce for us heat seeking adventurers. The Orange flavor works with the habanero peppers to create a pepper lovers treat.  When you combine habanero and cayenne the heat meter will tip to 3.5 stars out of 5. My mouth is still on fire. It burns so good.

Buen Apetito
4 Chaplin Street
Waterville, Maine, 04901
(207) - 861 - 4649

D. C. MEAT

This meat adventure was not a planned excursion. We just stumbled across ‘D.C. Meats’ tucked away in the corner of a small shopping center in San Pablo California. I have been driving by this establishment for years and never new of its existence. D. C. Meats needed to be explored and experienced in the name of meat research. This meat market is in the shadows of a large discount retail store. We walked through the doors and were surprised how big this market is.

  Inside D.C. Meats a clean and fresh smelling market greeted us. Several walls are lined with meat lockers and the main display case is flanked by a large meat preparation area. Half a dozen employees are busy dissecting and packaging large cuts of meat. I get the impression that this is a family run operation. Immediately we were approached and asked if we needed guidance in our meat decisions. We needed several minutes to get the lay of the land.

There was a huge selection of all things meat here. D. C. meats carry hams and bacon from ‘Prime Smoked Meats’. These are bonus points in my book. We noticed quit a few customers coming and going.  There seems to be a high turnover of meat products. One wall of refrigerator cases display meats that were prepackaged. Numerous brands of sausage, steaks, chops, soup bones and roasts. If you did not find your selection up front the butcher would custom cut and wrap your selection.

We asked the butcher several questions and made a selection. The highlight of this excursion was the bill. D.C. Meats has very reasonable prices; in fact to Bay Area norms it is darn right cheap. No pretense or attitude here. Friendly service, fresh meat, huge selection, and great prices are standard here. D. C. Meats why have you been hidden all these years.

D. C. Meat
2077 23rd Av.
San Pablo Ca. 94806
510 215-0394

RICHMOND GOLD

Are you looking for that ultimate stocking stuffer? 'Richmond Gold' may be the perfect answer. Local honey that is sweet as can be. This honey is created by urban bees within a couple of miles of the Richmond farmers market. This nectar is a natural sweetener the way nature intended. I personally use honey instead of sugar in most of my cooking endeavors. The biggest bonus, it tastes fantastic. This honey can be purchased at the Richmond farmers market on Friday's. This Friday, yours truly will be holding court and will give personal attention to all those who attend.

Richmond Farmers Market
Friday's 8am to 4pm
24th & Barrett Av.
Richmond, Ca.

ANGELO IBLETO

Angelo Ibleto is a character larger than life. Charismatic, generous, butcher extraordinaire and most important of all our friend. Our friend is the owner and proprietor of Angelo's Meats in Petaluma California.
We have known Angelo for over 20 years. We make it a point to visit Angelo as often as we can. A visit to his butcher shop is like hanging out with an old friend. He always loves to feed us with some of his delicious Italian food..His focaccia is to die for. When we depart we have a ice chest full of meat and a smile on our face. We would like to share a moment with Angelo.

 

BELCAMPO MEAT COMPANY

 We received several messages about the opening of a new meat market in Larkspur California. Belcampo Meat Company is our destination for today’s meat adventure. Belcampo is located across from the Golden Gate ferry terminal right next to ‘Marin Brewing Company”. Now that is what I am talking about, we can have our craft brewed micro beer, buy a steak for dinner and then take the ferry home. We could even dine at Belcampo because they have a sit down restaurant or take-out deli. I am liking this place before we have even stepped through the door.

 Belcampo calls their-selves a “‘Boutique Business’ that maintains a traditional butcher shop for consumers that are looking for exceptional taste and are responsible land and animal stewards.” Grass fed, pasture raised, safe, healthy, humane meat, delicious, organic, grass finished are selling points that are emphasized about Belcampo meats. We just want a steak.

The new modern sit down restaurant and market occupy the front of building while the take-out counter and butcher counter occupies the back. We met Chris Arentz; the head butcher that is culinary trained and has a passion for ’all things butchery’. He guided us through the meat case and answered our numerous meat specific questions. The selection of meats is still a work in process. I was disappointed that they did not have bacon, specific cuts of pork or house charcuterie to offer. Chris promised in the future bacon will be available. There was some good looking beef available, especially the bone-in New York strip.  A New York steak painted  deep dark red with exceptional fat marbling  called to us.

 After peppering Chris with questions and flashing him a Mad Meat Genius card he gifted us a tub of ‘Lardo Butter”. This was no ordinary butter. It was cured pork fat from the back loin that had been whipped and mixed with rosemary, thyme, garlic and salt & pepper. Lardo is Decadence with a capital D. This creamy, rich spread was sampled on some French bread. I have died and gone to pork fat heaven.

 As some of you know I am not the biggest fan of anything grass fed. I approached dinner with great reserve. This steak would have to be cooked to perfection. A dusting of salt & pepper and a hot grill will transform this pedigreed protein to our dinner plate. When this steak hit 120 degrees it was immediately taken off the grill and put to a covered plate to rest. WOW!!!!!! Tender with a  rich deep beefy flavor was something I did not expect. . The 27 day dry aging process, the minimal seasoning and precise cooking made this a memorable steak experience.

 Belcampo Meats is an establishment that needs further investigation. We were very happy with our New York steak. We are looking forward to trying the restaurant. We defiantly will return to sample the bacon. If you want to visit Belcampo’s meat counter be prepared to spend premium prices for some great beef. Give us a call before you go and we will take the ferry and meet you at the micro-brewery.

Belcampo Meat Company

2406 Larkspur Landing Circle, Bldg 4

Larkspur, Ca. 94939

415 448-5810

BARBEQUED PICKLES

Our friend Chris from ‘Nibble Me This’ continues to be an inspiration to us at the grill. One of his latest projects was barbequed pickles. Grilling cucumbers and onions brings out the natural sugars and imparts a smoky flavor. Throw in some pepper flakes and pickling liquid and you will have one tasty snack or accompaniment. We picked up some fresh cucumbers and dill at the Richmond Farmers market. The fuel to kiss our future pickles with smoky love will be mesquite charcoal. The rest of our ingredients will be found in the Chilebrown pantry.

• Cucumbers slice in half or quarter
• Onion, slice in wedges and secure with toothpick
• Fresh dill
• Garlic cloves
• Cauliflower, Carrots, Jalapenos (Optional)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup vinegar
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons salt
• Pepper flakes to taste

Grill cucumbers and onions over hot fire until grill marks appear. You are only charring these vegetables. Do not overcook. Place your vegetables in jars with pepper flakes and dill sprigs.
  Combine water, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a pan and heat until solids are dissolved. Cool slightly and pour over vegetables. Place lid on jar and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate.

You can eat the pickles as soon as they have cooled in the refrigerator. They will have more flavor after several days. This recipe and procedure is simple and fun. The results are pickles that are smoky, sweet and spicy. This will be a new Chilebrown staple.

DOGGIE BACON BISCOTTI

Do you ever have leftover bacon and wonder what do you do with it? This is a very rare occurrence at the Mad Meat Genius household. Strange as it sounds we actually have some bacon to spare today. We have found a fun recipe by the food writer and blogger Julia Van Rosendaal ' After reading the ingredients, I am not sure the dogs will even get a chance to sample this bacon studded cookie.

Doggie Bacon Biscotti
Ingredients:
• 6 slices bacon, chopped
• canola or olive oil (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oats
• 1 tsp. baking  powder
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup bacon drippings or canola oil
• 2 Tbsp. honey
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a skillet set over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until crisp; remove with a slotted spoon and set aside, reserving the drippings. Pour the drippings into a measuring cup; if you need to, add canola or olive oil until you have 1/4 cup. (If you like, discard the bacon drippings entirely and just use oil.)
3. In a large bowl, combine the flours, oats and baking powder. In a small bowl, stir together the water, eggs, bacon drippings and/or oil, and honey; add to the dry ingredients along with the cooked and crumbled bacon and stir until blended.
4. Shape the dough into a log that is about 12” long, place on an ungreased baking sheet and flatten until it’s about 6” wide. If you like, brush the top with a little beaten egg to give it a shiny finish. Bake for about 30 minutes, until firm.
5. Reduce the oven temperature to 250° F. Cool the log and cut it on a slight diagonal into 1/2” -1” thick slices using a sharp, serrated knife. Place the biscotti upright on the baking sheet, keeping them spaced about 1/2” apart, and put them back into the oven for another half an hour. If you want them hard, turn the oven off but leave them inside to harden as the oven cools.
Makes about 1 1/2 dozen biscotti. Store in a tightly covered container in the fridge, or freeze.

Of course I had to try these cookies for quality control purposes. Oscar & Lucy are some lucky Golden Retriever Lap Dogs because they are going to get some tasty treats. We did use whole wheat flour from Community Grains. This ingredient may qualify this treat as being healthy for the pups. They do not seem to care, because just like me, they love BACON.
  Thankyou Julia Van Rosendaal, for allowing me to share your fun recipe.