Rosie Makes Her Pig Shack Sauce.

We're having doughnuts with a chocolate glaze today!!!!!

NOT!!!!!!!

OK.  

It's not a doughnut.

And that's not chocolate.

It's a fried onion ring with Rosie's Pig Shack Sauce.

I know that was mean of me,

but that's the kind of person I am.

I don't know if you're familiar with this particular condiment,

but you should make its acquaintance.
You have ketchup.
You have mustard.
And you have Boar and Castle Sauce.
Or, in Rosie's World,
you have Rosie's Pig Shack Sauce.

I first met this sauce at 220 Seafood Restaurant between Greensboro, NC., and Danville, Va.  And this was way back in the 70s.  The seafood was all fried, Calabash-style, and a bottle of Boar and Castle sat on each table in the restaurant.  When I moved away in the early 80s,  I moved away from my beloved Boar and Castle sauce.

First, a bit of Boar and Castle history.  In 1932, Leon Thomas opened a castle-shaped restaurant in Greensboro, NC., named after a pub, the Boar and Castle, in a Samuel Johnson novel.  Boar and Castle sauce was Thomas' mother's recipe, developed in the 20s, and was slathered on everything, from the namesake Castleburgers to buttersteak sandwiches, fries, and onion rings. 

 

 

   

 The restaurant itself was part of an era -  one could liken it to something out of American Graffiti - an era where teenagers would cruise the main drag and end up hanging out at the Boar and Castle - a drive-in with carhops.  The restaurant closed in 1979, but folks never forgot that tangy sauce.  To many, it was nostalgia in a bottle.

Boar and Castle sauce went out of circulation for a while, sooooo, when I got a hankerin' for it, I had to come up with a recipe myself.  And I did.  And it's pretty darn close to the original.  In fact, I would challenge you to pick out the "real" B&C given a taste test between theirs and mine.

    

Rosie's Recipe for Boar and Castle Sauce

 4 tamarinds, steeped in boiling water at least one hour

1/2 tin of anchovies

1/3 cup cider vinegar

2 TB soy sauce

 1/2 cup ketchup

 1/2 cup yellow mustard

 2 tsp granulated garlic

2 tsp onion powder

 3 TB corn syrup

2 TB brown sugar

1 TB molasses

 1/2 tsp cayenne

1 TB lemon juice

Mix all ingredients.  Taste test.  Adjust ingredients, if necessary.  For example, if you put in more tamarinds, you might need to adjust with more brown sugar.  If you used more anchovies, then up the lemon juice.  That sort of thing.

Everything here is pretty straight forward except maybe for the anchovies and the tamarinds.
So, I've got visuals for you.

Put those little gristly anchovies in a bowl.

And commence to mashin' 'em.

Mash away until they're paste-like.

Then you add in the rest of the ingredients, whisking and mixing well.

Now, about those tamarinds...

First, where do you find these?
Answer:  You find tamarinds in the Hispanic section in the supermarket.

Second, how do you prepare them?
Answer:  Place in a bowl, cover with boiling water, then cover and leave for at least an hour.

After soaking for an hour, peel off the woody covering.  Probably should have done this before soaking, but I forgot.  Not to worry.

                                                        

Peel off the strings and the husk.  And no.  I don't own any cats.  Why do you ask?

Remove the seeds.

Place the pulp in a strainer and...

... press through and...

... add to the rest of the ingredients.

Whisk thoroughly.

And there you have it!
Taste test, but I'm pretty sure it's perfect.

Next, fry up some onion rings.  Or fries.
By the way, Mr. Hawthorne has perfected his onion rings.
Recipe coming up.

Add the Boar & Castle and dip away!

Enjoy!

Frozen Coffee Cream Pie.

Time for something sweet!

   I have a delightful dessert for you.

It's a frozen coffee cream pie

And it's good.
Really, really good!

There are three layers -

a buttery chocolatey crumb base,

a coffee ice cream center accented with cinnamon and orange zest,

and a whipped cream topping. 

This recipe is adapted from a recipe
for Mexican Ice Cream.
The original recipe called for a graham cracker crust.

I happened to have a bag of gingersnaps 

and a box of cinnamon toast crunch cereal

so I'm going with the snaps and cereal.

The original recipe also called for sweetened condensed milk.

And can you believe

 there's no sweetened condensed milk in my pantry?

But I do have evaporated milk,

so I'm making a substitution of sorts.

Here's the recipe:

Cocoa Crust

2 1/2 ounces gingersnaps

2 1/2 ounces cinnamon toast crunch

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

NOTE:  You could use a package (5 ounces) of graham crackers

instead of the gingersnaps and cinnamon toast crunch.

Combine all ingredients in a processor and process away.

Press evenly into a greased pie pan.

Bake 7 minutes in a 350° oven and cool for 30 minutes.

Coffee Cream Center

1 package cream cheese, softened

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (See NOTE below.)

1 cup strong coffee

1 tsp grated orange zest

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a blender or processor

and blend or process away until evenly mixed.

Pour into cooled crust, cover,

and freeze overnight.

NOTE:  As I said, I had no sweetened condensed milk.

So I subbed.

I combined 1 12-ounce can evaporated milk

with 1 cup sugar in a small sauce pan

and heated to dissolve the sugar.

Let it cool before adding to the recipe.

After the pie has been in the freezer overnight,
make the whipped cream topping.

Whipped Cream Topping

1 cup heavy cream

2 tsp vanilla

2 TB sugar

Whenever I whip cream,

I always put the bowl and beaters in the freezer

for about 20 minutes first.

Cream whips better when everything is cold.

Start beating cream.

When you get soft peaks,

beat in the sugar and vanilla.

Do not overbeat.

You don't want butter.

Spread whipped cream topping over pie,

making pretty swirls.

I happened to have a chocolate caramel sauce

which I drizzled over the pie.

RECIPE below.

Finely grate a nice dark chocolate over everything.

Chocolate Caramel Sauce

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

Combine sugar, water, and vanilla in a medium saucepan.

Over medium heat, slowly cook until sugar is dissolved

and you have a clear bubble.

Turn heat to low

and let cook until amber colored.

Watch closely now.

Call it an Amber Alert, if you will.

You can go from amber to crap in no time,

so be vigilant.

Remove from heat and stir in:

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 TB unsalted butter

1 12-oz. pkg. bittersweet chocolate morsels

Stir until smooth.

(When you pour in the cream, be careful.

It will spit and steam.

This is normal.)

Stir until chocolate bits are melted and sauce is smooth.

Drizzle over pie.

Enjoy!

Vegetable Pho Broth With Stuffed Wontons/Potstickers.

 

I always have assorted homemade broths and consommées in my freezer, so a quick soup is never more than a thaw away.  Today, I'm pulling out a vegetarian pho broth I made and froze back in December and I'm making some shrimp-stuffed wontons/potstickers to go with it.

Here's the recipe for the VEGETARIAN PHO BROTH and a nice soup to boot.

If you're interested in a more traditional beef-based pho bo, here's my post Pho Who The Bell Tolls 

 which will give you the step by steps for creating that culinary delight.

I happen to have vegetarian/vegan/pescatarian offspring, so I came up with the vegetarian pho broth just for them.

This particular pho was made with my pescatarian in mind.

I started with my basic vegetarian pho broth and I'm adding in shrimp-stuffed wontons which I made potstickers out of and threw into my pho.  The wonton/potstickers would be just fine on their own as an appetizer, with appropriate dipping sauces, but they worked great as an added treat in the soup.

Shrimp-Stuffed Wontons/Potstickers

Marinade for shrimp:

1-inch knob ginger

1 garlic clove

3 TB soy sauce

1 TB rice vinegar

1 TB sugar

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Finely chop the shrimp until it's almost paste-like.  You'll want enough shrimp for 1 cup. Run the ginger through a garlic press to extract juice and scrape some of the pulp to use.  Run the garlic through a press.

Whisk all ingredients together and pour over shrimp.  Let marinate at least 15 minutes.

Filling:

1 cup minced/finely chopped shrimp, marinated

1/2 cup finely chopped cabbage

1 TB finely chopped carrot

 Combine marinated shrimp, cabbage, and carrot.

Here are some step-by-steps:

This is a nifty little device that peels and de-tracks shrimp in one swift move.

And yes, I say de-tract, not de-vein.  That black line running down the back of the shrimp is the digestive tract, not a vein.

Just slip the point of the tool down the back of the shrimp, slide it down, and ...

... pull it up.  It pulls out the tract and pulls off the shell.

And now you have a nice little pile of shrimp.

You'll need a cup or so.

Mince 1/2 cup of cabbage and a tablespoon of carrot.

Finely chop up the shrimp so that it's almost a paste.

Marinate the shrimp.

Then mix with the cabbage and carrot.

Now get out your wonton sheets and start filling.

The key here is to not over-fill.

Brush water around the edges.

And press to seal.

Continue filling until you run out of ...  filling.

After a few of these, I got an idea.

Use the marinade, not water, to seal.

I had enough filling to make 18 wontons.

And yes, I know there are only 17 in the picture.

Made you count!

Now, for the potsticker part:

Pour in a film of peanut oil in a large skillet and turn heat to high.

Add wontons and fry on first side about a minute, until light golden.

Turn potstickers over and fry the other side about a minute

Then pour a little water in the pan, cover,and let cook/steam for a minute or two.

Now, you can serve the potstickers on their own, 

with a dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce:

2 TB soy sauce

1 tsp chili garlic sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1-inch chunk of fresh ginger

1 tsp sesame toasted sesame seeds

chopped scallions

Take the chunk of ginger, slice it into smaller pieces, then run it through a garlic press to extract the juice.  Scrape off some of the pulp to use too.  Combine with the rest of the ingredients.

For the soup, I thawed out a quart of my vegetable pho, heated it to a bare simmer,

and added in some shaved carrot, diagonally sliced celery, and a handful of frozen peas.  Heat through.  Serve with sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds.  And a few stuffed wontons.

Some fresh cilantro is always nice.

Enjoy!