Dirty Al's Pelican Station Revisited

I've written about Dirty Al's on the island as well as at Pelican Station before, but I hadn't been there in a few months so I thought I would stop in with the teen for a Saturday afternoon lunch.  It was a beautiful day and the traffic heading to the island encouraged me to stay on the mainland for our meal and Dirty Al's was the teen's chosen location - so we went!

We were seated promptly at a table in the south end of the dining room right at the window - so that was a good thing.  Full on views of the bay and bridge and South Padre Island are always enjoyable - on a beautiful, albeit hazy, day. 

Prompt drink orders were taken as well as an order of Lupe's Mexican Cocktail (a Mexican Shrimp Cocktail).  It and our drinks arrived quite quickly... we placed our orders for the teen's Bacon Burger - hold the veggies and cheese - with fries.  I ordered a 2nd appetizer for my meal - Fried Calamari.

The Mexican Cocktail was very tasty and filled with cut up pieces of large boiled shrimp.  Spicy after burn kept me sipping my soda...it was very tasty.  My only complaints - and there were two - was that there were about 4 minuscule pieces of tiny tiny bits of avocado.  I'm used to a Mexican Shrimp Cocktail having a LOT of chunks of avocado...so that was disappointing.  I liked that it had minimal cilantro though...some places put too much in.  Taste wise, it was very good.  The second complaint is that it was served with packaged saltines.  There were 4 packets of 2 crackers provided.  Now, this cocktail is basically a dipping sauce with chunks.  You need to put it on tostado chips or crackers.  I ran out of crackers on, well, the 8th bite.  I had to ask twice to get more crackers (and then he brought a basket).  I found it irritating to have to open that many cracker packages to get through my appetizer.  I love saltines, but with a Mexican Cocktail, I prefer tostado chips...in a basket...not wrapped in plastic wrappers.  I had a huge mound of cellophane on my plate by the time it was all done with.  Ehh, pretty minimal complaints...but certainly room for improvement.  Oh crap, I have one more complaint.  The shrimp was not deveined.  Not much I hate more than biting into a piece of shrimp with a gritty vein in it.  Ick. Still, I would definitely order it again.

The calamari were just about perfect - no complaints - no rubbery pieces - crisp and light coating - a good dipping sauce this time.  The teen ate a few pieces and gave them a nod as well.

The teen's burger, unfortunately, had to be re-made.  It was coated with cheese and he doesn't eat cheeseburgers.  When it returned it was piled high with bacon, so he was happy and didn't mind the wait.  It was tasty he said and he was happily adding his own mustard and ketchup when I irritated him by snapping a photo.  He gave me "the look".  Oops, no more photos I guess :-))))

The bill was slow in coming after we finished eating, but that was no hardship as we were enjoying watching the pelicans chase the gulls from their piling perches.  Overall, a very lovely lunch.

I ate at the island location last week with friends...I have to say what I've said again...I really prefer this location in Port Isabel.  The menu is just slightly different and more to my tastes...AND they serve breakfast which is a plus.

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

FRUIT KABOBS IN WATERMELON TRAY

Last week I saw a pretty photograph of melon balls on skewers poked into a watermelon in a magazine...it had to be either Southern Living or Food Network's magazine...but I don't know which one at this point.

I bought a watermelon today and thought about just cutting up chunks for our dessert tonight, but when I cut the end off, and it was so pretty, I decided to make some fruit kabobs with the strawberries, blackberries, and chunks of watermelon I had on hand. Since I love yogurt for fruit dipping, I decided to scoop out the middle of the end piece for a little "dipping bowl". It was great for the first piece...but I did have to slide the next pieces down the bamboo spear to get them into dipping position. Oh well, it was cute and it is fun to eat...so consider dessert served! 

The down side of this is when I dipped and then put my mouth over it to get it off the skewer, I would have been double dipping if I'd dipped again for the next piece of fruit...so in hindsight, unless you are sharing with someone you kiss - probably not the best idea for a communal dipping bowl!  Better get a spoon for serving some of the yogurt...then people can double dip on their plate all they want obviously!  Still, even without, it is a pretty display of fruit for a summer picnic or barbecue.

It was pretty darn easy for such a nice look too!

Just cut a fairly small piece off the end of the watermelon.

Slice just a touch off the bottom to stabilize it and make it sit evenly.

Slice another slice, remove the rind and cut some generous squares.

I scooped the center with a large cookie dough scoop (and oh weren't THOSE the nicest pieces to eat!) and dried the "bowl" with a paper towel, then added one container of yogurt.

I got out my blackberries and strawberries and some bamboo skewers, threading alternate colors of fruit onto the skewers (ending with the pointed end at the bottom) and just stuck them into the "watermelon plate".

Very cute and verrrrry, delicious....

And, unfortunately, you can see what I mean about the end of the stick causing double dipping.  Too bad, because it's a cute alternate for dipping bowls, albeit not practical!  I almost always serve individual ramekins....because I like to double dip. :-)  Of course, as stated above - a spoon in the dipping section will allow self service onto a plate, thus avoiding a communal dipping arena.

This watermelon was so incredibly sweet - the first one of the season for me - and it was locally grown and a mere $3.  Happy Days!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

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MULTIGRAIN SESAME SEED BREAD

It's been kind of an overcast day this Sunday afternoon and it got me to feelin' like baking - but I didn't want any more sweets in the house for a while.  I went overboard last week!  I stood out on the deck for a bit and there was a nice breeze, 76 degrees, so I leaned against the rail and stared out over the bay, listening to children play...and thinkin'.  I loved that the little girl had on pink boxing gloves and the little boy was dressed as Indiana Jones.  They were busily pretending "something" and then they joyfully threw themselves on the ground spread eagle, and watched the sea gulls flying over head.  It was a lovely bit of relaxation and renewal - I love watching happy kids playing.  While I was standing there I decided I wanted to make some homemade bread to go with our dinner.  It was 3:00 in the afternoon which meant I had barely enough time for rising and baking...so I scooted back in and surfed the Internet for a bit...didn't find just what I was looking for...but did see an Emeril recipe that looked good...then I grabbed a cookbook and started flipping through.  I finally landed on enough data that I could tweak the recipe to work with what I had available in my pantry.  It's going to be free-form, rustic, and have sesame seeds on it...and I'm going to use some Wheaties cereal to give it some "umph".  Fingers crossed - here we go!

MULTI GRAIN SESAME SEED BREAD
Adapted from "Bob's Red Mill Baking Book" and Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Wheaties cereal - lightly crush to measure
2 cups boiling water
2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour, divided
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons unhulled sesame seeds
2 cups water for baking pan
Spray mist bottle with water

Ingredients are ready

Method:

Place 1/2 cup cereal in bowl of stand mixer.
Add 2 cups boiling water to cereal and stir.  Place candy thermometer in with it.

Wheaties soaking in boiling water

When temperature drops to between 105 and 115 degrees (about 15-20 minutes) sprinkle the yeast over the water and cereal mixture, stir with wooden spoon until dissolved.
Let stand until the yeast begins to foam (about 5 minutes).

Yeast proved beautifully - if not foaming rapidly enough - sprinkle the brown sugar in to feed it

Add 1 cup of the white flour, the olive oil, brown sugar, and salt and stir until mostly smooth.  

Hand mix the first cup of flour and the oil, sugar, and salt

Place the bowl on the stand mixer with the dough hook engaged.  Begin adding the remaining cup and a half of white flour and the cup and a half of wheat flour in alternating 1/2 cup increments, until dough pulls all the way together - scrape down the sides if needed.  Turn the mixer off and cover bowl with cloth and allow dough to rest for 15 minutes.

Very sticky dough at first resting

Either turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about ten minutes, adding more flour if necessary...or turn the stand mixer back on and allow the dough hook to knead the dough for 10 minutes...add sprinkles of flour until the dough is smooth and elastic.  I used the white flour for sprinkling. It took almost a half cup of extra flour to get all the dough pulled up onto the hook. 

After 9 minutes on the dough hook and an extra amount of flour it all came together

I took the dough off the hook about 1 minute before the timer was going to go off and finished kneading it by hand on the counter with some bench flour...made it nice and smooth and elastic - just what I was looking for.

An additional minute of hand kneading provided a perfect ball of dough

Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough inside, turning it over in the oil. 

Turn into oiled bowl - I used EVOO - cover and set to rise in warm place

Cover it with a dish cloth and let the dough rise until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.

One hour later - doubled in size

Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. 

Punch down this very dense dough before the final kneading

Knead for 3 to 4 minutes, then shape into a 12 x 4 inch loaf.  Sprinkle a baking sheet with half of the seed mixture and place the loaf on top of the seeds (obviously don't spread them all over...just in the area where you are going to put the dough).  None of the recipes said to prepare the pan - and my bread did stick on one side...just a bit... and I was able to push a metal spatula between the bread and the pan to release it and caused no damage to the bread.  Just a heads up.

Formed a generous loaf on top of 2 tsp of sesame seeds

Cover the dough with the dish cloth and let it rise again until almost doubled (30-45 minutes).

Set one of your oven racks in the center position and one rack the level below.
Place a 9x13 baking pan on the lower rack (empty) and preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Spray the dough with a spritz of water and sprinkle the remaining seeds over the surface.  Use a sharp knife to cut slashes (about 6) across the top of the loaf.

Risen, sliced, spritzed, and sesame seeds applied to top and sides

Add the water for the baking pan right before you put the bread into the oven...it will sizzle and steam.
Bake the loaf about 25 to 35 minutes.  Should sound hollow when tapped with the bowl of a wooden spoon.  Or, insert a tester into the center until it comes out clean.  Be extremely cautious when opening the oven - steam poured out and I had my face right down there and had to jump back to avoid being burned.  It was Hades hot!  My loaf was done in about 30 minutes.

What a beauty!  And nothing smells better than bread baking with toasty sesame seeds!

Remove from oven and transfer loaf to a cooling rack.  This bread has a rustic, crisp crust, which turns to chewy after cooling, with a dense earthy crumb.  It's deliciously wholesome!
Slice, slather with butter and honey if feeling decadent, and enjoy!

Really delicious rustic loaf

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

CHICKEN SATAY

I instructed the teen to hit the cookbooks and select two new recipes for us to try.  He pulled out an Alton Brown cookbook and an Emeril Lagasse cookbook.  First up is the Chick On a Stick, aka Chicken Satay, from Alton Brown's "I'm Just Here For the Food".

Chick on a Stick with Dipping Sauce

I told him to make sure that he liked all of the ingredients or that he would be willing to try the ingredients because I didn't want to buy a lot of stuff and then have him "sniff it" and go "uh oh, I don't think so".  He swore this would be okay so we made the list before running up to Wal-mart for things I didn't happen to have on hand like Coconut Milk, limes (usually a staple but I used them all last week), fresh ginger, and some chicken breast (we only had boneless thighs on hand).

So, here we are, ready to roll.  Fingers crossed!

CHICK ON A STICK (Chicken Satay)
Recipe adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I bought thin sliced breast in hopes of not having to work hard on pounding them thin)
6 cloves garlic, minced (I used the Martha Stewart Garlic Press)
1/2 cup of peanut butter (creamy I assumed)
1/2 cup coconut milk (shake can before opening)
2 tablespoons sesame oil (**see note below)
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (peeled I assume - I find it easiest to peel by scraping with a spoon and then I grated it with my micro plane)
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Pound each chicken breast between two pieces of plastic wrap (I used a gallon Ziploc bag) until they are approximately 1/4 inch thick (really?  mine were tearing by then...1/2 inch was the best I could do).  Cut each breast into 1 inch strips and set aside.

pounding breasts to 1/4 inch thickness

Whisk together all of the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl.  Remove 1/2 cup of sauce to a gallon size Ziploc bag and add the chicken strips to the bag.  Smoosh out the air as best you can and seal tightly.  Gently squish the chicken around until totally coated with sauce.  Set bag inside a bowl and place in your refrigerator for about 2 hours.

Sauce Ingredients

Marinating Chicken Strips - use a bowl for protection against accidental leakage in the fridge!

Cover the remaining sauce and hold at room temperature (assuming you are using it same day).

Whisking the sauce until smooth

Remove the chicken from the marinade after two hours and discard the marinade as it is now contaminated.

Thread each piece of chicken onto a bamboo skewer.  Alton recommends laying the chicken on a cutting board and threading the skewer in and out of the piece of chicken about 3 or 4 times.  I must say I think it would have been easier with metal skewers...bamboo didn't slide through the chicken very easily!

Heat your griddle (I'm using a large grill pan because I don't have a griddle, nor do I have room to store one if I did own one) to 275 degrees.  Cook each skewer 1 1/2 to 3 minutes on each side, depending on the size of the piece.

Serve immediately with reserved dipping sauce.  Yield:  4 Servings

Yum!

We opted out of a sweet treat after this week's over-indulgences but paired it with fresh pineapple for dessert (leftover from making my Fresh Pineapple Upside Down Cake). 

I found the amount of Sesame Oil used way overbearing...and I only made half a recipe because it's just the two of us this week-end....but I "eye-balled" the ginger...and I'm thinking I got too much of that too.  It's a tad strong.  I would have used teaspoon measurements in the **Sesame Oil arena, and will do so next time...and I should have measured the ginger. Duh.  Strong ingredients are best NOT eye-balled!

Still, the teen, who tasted it first, said "that Alton Brown is a genius cook!" - so I am thinking he liked it indeed.  He told me to just put a little bit of sauce on - not to dunk it - and it would be "just right".  My oh my...young Jedi telling Momma how to do it :-)))  He was spot on...I'm usually a "dunker" but it just needed a tiny dip to accent the already awesome taste of the chicken.  Frankly, I bet that marinade would be good on an entire chicken breast cooked in the grill pan and served without the dipping sauce.  It gave a wonderful flavor to the chicken.  I also think it would be good with pork, shrimp, or tofu.

I bet my hubby would LOVE this with some tofu stir-fry.  Sorry hon - I'll make it for you soon!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

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Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays #18

MOSCATO TRIFLE DELIGHT

I tried a bottle of flipflop Moscato recently and it was like ambrosia of the Gods. I love to sip Moscato but as usual, these days all things in my brain seem to head towards "hmmmm, wonder what else can I do with this?" when I try something new...imagine that!

I remembered a concoction I used to eat years and years ago (like 30 years ago) with angel food cake and a cream pie filling and coconut sprinkled over it all - it was quite heavenly....and then my brain segued to all the beautiful blackberries in the stores…available for a really reasonable price.  I was a hop skip and a jump away from a new recipe with an old favorite recipe mixed up with blackberries so loved by my family and this incredibly smooth and sweet Moscato.  I really think it’s the best Moscato I’ve ever imbibed!

I started this blog post over a two weeks ago and kept tweaking it and imagining the flavors together...then I finally decided I was making it. I bought a package of luscious blackberries and got a new bottle of Moscato...so here goes!

flipflop Moscato adds a touch of mature elegance to a simple trifle

MOSCATO TRIFLE DELIGHT

Created by Debbi Hook

Ingredients:

1 package fresh blackberries

1 teaspoon orange zest

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cinnamon stick
3/4 cup flipflop Moscato wine

1 small box of instant French Vanilla pudding - prepared per box directions and chilled

2 cups Whipping Cream
2 tsp pure vanilla bean paste
1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 small Angel Food Cake torn into pieces (store bought is fine - I bought a loaf of angel food cake)

Trifle Dish or Individual Wine Glasses

METHOD:

In small saucepan bring the wine, 3/4 cup sugar, cinnamon stick, and orange zest to a low boil and immediately reduce to simmer - simmer until reduced by half. (about 3/4 cup of liquid - takes about 30 minutes). Remove from heat and pour into a small pitcher (I use a measuring cup with a spout) and place pitcher in bowl surrounded by ice to chill for about 30 minutes. (if you don't like to eat zest, you can strain before chilling). Remove cinnamon stick.

Simple syrup ingredients

The syrup is chilling after reduction

Whip cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla paste just until stiff.

Adding Moscato Syrup and Sweetened Vanilla Whipped Cream to the Pudding

Lighten pudding by mixing 1/2 of whipped cream into prepared chilled pudding.

Reserve 2nd half of whipped cream for later
Stir in 1/4 cup of chilled syrup into pudding - reserve rest of syrup for later.

The pudding lightened up and ready for layering

Cover bottom of trifle dish with 1/3 of pudding mix

Press in 1/2 of torn cake pieces
Sprinkle cake with 1/2 the blackberries and drizzle with 1/2 of the remaining syrup
Cover berries with second third of pudding mix
Press in last 1/2 of torn cake pieces
Sprinkle cake with second half of the berries, reserving a few for later.
Drizzle with the remaining syrup
Cover fruit with final amount of pudding and smooth over top.
Spread rest of whipped cream over top of pudding and decorate with the reserved blackberries mounded in the center of the whipped cream.

If you decide to create individual desserts in a wine glass - apportion accordingly. That's what I decided to do.

A Moscato syrup added to the custard and drizzled over the cake - yummilicious!

What a simple yet elegant dessert with the hint of wine in the background.  I would happily serve this at a dinner party or take it to a barbecue in a simple trifle dish.  The vanilla bean paste imparts a nice look to both the lightened pudding and the whipped cream topping.  The syrup is absolutely decadent tasting…just the hint of cinnamon and orange are a perfect complement to the sweet Moscato reduction.  I didn’t think anything could top the flipflop Riesling syrup I made…but this almost blows it away. 

I could picture making a cordial out of this syrup with some unflavored gelatin and some whipped cream on top…wouldn’t that be a kicked up adult kind of Jello?!?  I might have to try that!

I am really enjoying using the flipflop wines in recipes...I can't ask for a better addition to my flippity floppin’ world!  AND at such a reasonable price…if you can find it, you should lay in a supply.  You are going to want this on your summer table!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

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FRESH PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

I love fresh pineapple and the Gold ones especially.  Not a huge fan of maraschino cherries but I do have fond memories of my mom baking pineapple upside down cakes when I was a child.  They were always made with canned pineapple rings with a maraschino in the middle of each ring....fresh pineapple was pretty much a luxury in those days.  I remember shipping pineapple back from Hawaii when I went there in 1976 and eating so many while I was there I got sores in my mouth from the acid.  It was the start of a lovely relationship with pineapple of the fresh sort.  This week they are less than $2.50 at the grocery stores down here so I grabbed one and decided today I would make an upside down cake.

Cutting a pineapple is easy once you know how.  You start by cutting off the top and the bottom so you have a nice stable cutting surface. 

Even bottom surface makes for easier cutting

Starting from the top, cut down the sides, removing the rough outer skin - making sure to get all the "eyes" and any visible black seeds. 

Cut straight down the sides, turning as you go, with a very sharp chef's knife

Easy to get a nice big peeled pineapple!

Since I don't have a pineapple corer, I generally cut the sides off, leaving the core intact...if it is a juicy pineapple I suck the juice off the core - the cook's treat, and discard it. 

Cut straight down the outer edge of the core - I end up with 4 pieces

For the cake, I'll make about 1/2 inch slices from the largest piece to put in the bottom of the pan and fill in with smaller pieces.  Obviously, they will end up on top.

Half-moon slices for the bottom of the cake pan

So, here's the recipe I decided to use.  It's a basic yellow cake mix with a buttery brown sugar mixture to go in the bottom of the pan with the pineapple slices.  When you turn it out, it's a luscious sweet glaze.  I haven't eat one in several years so I'm ready to get started!

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
Adapted from JoyofBaking.com and MarthaStewart.com Recipes

TOPPING:

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, cut into chunks
1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar

Slices of fresh pineapple or rings of canned pineapple

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place rack in middle position.
Prepare 9 inch round cake pan by spraying with non-stick baking spray.  I use Baker's Joy.  (or you can lightly butter and flour cake pan instead)  This time I used an 8-inch cake pan and regretted it.  It came up over the edge when it rose and I had to cut a little lip off the cake's top (which became the bottom).  No biggie..it didn't overflow, but it needed another inch.

Place the butter and brown sugar in a small sauce pan over medium heat and stir until butter and sugar are melted together. 

Stop stirring and allow to cook just until bubbles start to form around the edge of the pan - you can swirl, but don't stir.  Remove from heat when you see bubbles forming around edge.

Pour topping into pan and shake until evenly distributed.
Pat pineapple dry and place evenly on top of the butter/sugar mixture.

Topping for the cake, the butter and brown sugar sauce topped with pineapple

YELLOW BUTTER CAKE:

Ingredients:

3/4  cup unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup butter - softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs - room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk - room temperature

Method:

In a separate bowl, whisk together both flours, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Whisked dry ingredients

In bowl of stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy (takes about 3 or 4 minutes).
Add eggs 1 at a time until each is incorporated.
Add vanilla extract and mix until incorporated.

With stand mixer on low, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and allow to incorporate.
Add 1/2 of the milk and mix to incorporate.
Add 1/2 of the remaining dry ingredients - mix to incorporate
Add the remaining milk and mix to incorporate.
Add the last of the flour and mix to incorporate.

Batter is ready to be spooned on top of pineapple slices in cake pan

Spoon batter over pineapple and smooth with an offset spatula.
Bake 45-55 minutes (when tester comes out clean - be sure not to stick it into the pineapple stuff at the bottom).

Allow cake to cool on wire rack for about 10 minutes.  Run a sharp knife around the outside edges to ensure a good release.  Turn cake onto serving platter.  If any pineapple pieces get stuck, carefully release them with a spoon and place them back into their "spots".  Be careful of the hot topping.

I like it best served warm with a big scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream...or a dollop of sweet whipped cream. All by itself is just dandy as well!  It is just as good the next day.

This is a great old-fashioned cake and I can pretty much guarantee it will be breakfast with a cup of hot coffee!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

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