I recently ate and drank my way through Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, and while at times things were very foreign to me, most of the time it felt a lot like home. It was hot, humid and I almost always had a beer in my hand.
The Mercado Modelo is full of interesting characters and beautiful produce. I had a few bites, got proposed to and snapped some gorgeous pictures.
Below you'll find a visual tour of the market. Be on the lookout for a post on all my experiences in the Dominican Republic!
Plantain carts and motorcycles. This is Santo Domingo.
Habaneros with a side of eggplant.
Peppers and potatoes.
Macadamia nuts.
Yucca is almost guaranteed to be on every table in the Dominican Republic.
Salted fish.
Drying flowers hang in nearly every booth.
Assorted hanging meats.
Bottles full of roots are strung up all over. Pour rum inside and you'll have Mamajuana, a local aphrodisiac.
While this man hacked heads of cabbage into slaw at an alarming rate, he also took the time to propose.
We haven't set a date yet.
4ft. tall cinnamon sticks. No joke.
Seeds and fresh eggs.
Flowers, grass reeds and palm leaves.
The prettiest beans in all the land.
The cashew fruit.
Bird's Eye chilis.
This trip to Santo Doming, DR was provided through trade with the Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism.
I knew very little of the Rio Grande Valley when Trisha Watts, a representative of the McAllen Convention and Visitors Bureau, invited me to go there for a media trip. These days, I find myself more and more on the receiving end of invitations to travel for food and beverage while at the same time being less and less available to make those trips happen. Sometimes I truly don’t have the space on my calendar, and sometimes I just don’t feel like it will be worth my time. But McAllen felt different from the beginning.
Shishito peppers, sweet onions, toasted garlic, sea salt, aioli at Bodega Tavern & Kitchen in McAllen
In 2014 I emceed the Great American Seafood Cook-off at the convention center in New Orleans along with Chef Cory Bahr from Restaurant Cotton in Monroe and TV star Anthony Anderson. While there, fighting back a hangover from the pre-party the night before with a microphone in my hand, I had the pleasure of meeting chefs from around the country who were competing for the seafood title. One of those chefs, representing the State of Texas, was Larry Delgado. His Texas Gulf shrimp tostada took home second place in the cook-off, but even more appetizing was the way he genuinely seemed happy to be there, bringing friends and family with him to have a good time, soaking in the experiences and representing his state with honor.
Jay, Cory and Anthony at the Great American Seafood Cookoff
Larry’s restaurant, Salt: New American Table, is in McAllen, Texas, and despite growing up in Texas, I had never been to or even heard of McAllen.
I had to do some research to find it on a map: in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexican border, and about an hour drive inland from the place they locally refer to as “The Island,” South Padre Island. I was raised at deer camps around Cotulla, a few hours drive south of San Antonio. I thought that was south Texas.
Carrot-rita: jalapeño cilantro infused tequila, carrot juice, orange juice, lemon juice, lime juice and cilantro simple syrup
The Rio Grande Valley occupies vast, flat lands of deep south Texas, on the fertile flood plains of the region’s namesake river. It is a cradle of culture, as American as apple pie yet as Mexican as menudo. People are genuine, friendly, and passionate.
McAllen, the second largest city in the valley after Brownsville on the coast, sits near the Rio Grande River across from Reynosa, Mexico. The influences of Mexico are present at every turn. The population, largely hispanic, clearly has ties to the other side of the border.
There are taco stands on most corners, especially since one of the more well-known taco chains operates out of gas station convenience stores called Stripes. A few years back, the Laredo Taco Company ran a promotion to come up with a new breakfast taco by having local radio stations compete to come up with the best recipe. The Q, 94.5 (KFRQ) in Harlingen, Texas, won, and the Q-taco was born. The combination of potato, egg, cheese, and refried beans on a soft flour tortilla proved to be a hit. Still, locals will advise you to order your Q-taco with the addition of bacon. So I did just that. For a gas station taco, that thing was legendary.
Breakfast tacos from Tortilleria Emmanuel in McAllen, TX
On a breakfast taco tour of McAllen, Trisha brought Blair, my Chief Confusion Coordinator and Spin Doctor, and I on a gastronomically challenging journey to the best taco spots. We inquired about whether there existed a definitive guide to the best tacos in the valley, and upon hearing nothing like that existed, we volunteered for the job. However, that would have to be saved for a later trip. On this excursion, we visited Ms. G’s Tacos & More, Laredo Taco Company inside Stripes, El Pato Mexican Food and Tortilleria Emmanuel. We ate too much, undoubtedly, but it was worth it.
Many places throughout Texas stake claim to the breakfast taco. Most notably, Austin and San Antonio almost go to war over it. If you’re interested, read this article from Texas Monthly. However, if you read deeply even in that article, you’ll see McAllen mentioned. Deep south Texas, right at the Mexican border, also claims to be the originator of the breakfast taco. The originals include beans and eggs. Everything else such as bacon, cheese, sausage, and more, are lagniappe.
Hangar steak, fingerlings, hominy, manchego crisp, jammy tomato vinaigrette, local greens from Bodega Tavern & Kitchen
Blair and I ate at several restaurants in McAllen that impressed us. Blair previously documented her favorite bites of food from the trip on the blog. Beyond the restaurants themselves, perhaps what impressed me the most was the sense of culinary community in the Rio Grande Valley. Many chefs really view it as their mission to raise the bar for cuisine there, to elevate from their rustic heritage to modern American cuisine that is still true to its south Texas roots.
One of those chefs is Adam Cavazos, owner and executive chef at Bodega Tavern & Kitchen. Adam is from the area and is on a mission to create a culinary identity for the Valley. Bodega is a new, beautifully built out restaurant with an open area patio out front despite being in a shopping center. On the inside there’s a massive window looking into a charcuterie aging room that used to be an aquarium. Adam’s menu reflects his pride in being local and seasonal.
Like several other places I visited in McAllen, Bodega boasted a nice selection of Texas craft beer as well as specialty cocktails. The drinks utilized seasonal ingredients while celebrating the spirit of local libations. We undoubtedly drank some good margaritas in the Valley, but the adult beverages didn’t stop there. Whiskey and vodka focused cocktails were also very popular, and the Texas Ruby Red grapefruit played a key role in the citrus offerings.
Panna Cotta from Chef Marcel at Lunchbox on 10th
Over at Lunchbox on 10th, Dutch Chef Marcel Fortuin cooks inspired food. Part cooking instructor, part fine dining chef, and part nourisher of souls, Chef Marcel has a way with food. His panna cotta is one of the most divine dishes to ever lace my taste buds. The perfectly creamy gelatin-molded vanilla cream played music on my tongue. Never have I tasted anything quite like it.
On our last day in McAllen my trip came full circle, bringing me back to Chef Larry Delgado. The chef I’d met a year before in New Orleans represented why I wanted to visit McAllen in the first place. That particular Wednesday in February was dubbed Larry Delgado Day as I tried to convince Blair of the amazing food journey we were about to enjoy. Larry has two restaurants in McAllen; his first, House Wine and Bistro, started as a wine bar with food and developed into a restaurant with wine. There, Blair had her first taste of escargot and, after stuffing myself with an endless array of dishes, I couldn’t help but devour an amazing apple tart with cheddar ice cream.
For dinner we ate the meal I had eagerly awaited. The more I look forward to some dining experiences, the more they have a chance to disappoint. On this occasion, there was a slight concern that I’d overhyped Larry Delgado Day to Blair and in my own head.
Chef Larry Delgado (left), Jay Ducote, and Chef Adam Cavazos
We arrived at Salt, a gorgeous restaurant with natural wood, brick, stained concrete and lighting that evokes a sense of place and comfort. We sat at a long table underneath portraits of nearby farms adorning a dusk-blue wall. I looked out over the restaurant to the open kitchen with a team of talented young culinarians running the restaurant without Chef Delgado in site. He was running a bit behind, but he wouldn’t be going to the kitchen upon his arrival. His plan was to sit at the table and have dinner with us, along with his wife, Jessica, Trisha from the McAllen CVB, and Gaby Jones, a local craft beer rep.
Compart Duroc bacon wrapped sweet breads, habanero glaze, fingerling potatoes, morels, chanterelles from Salt
The kitchen sent out dish after dish. With a round of appetizers at the table including the above pictured bacon wrapped sweetbreads with a habanero glaze, fingerling potatoes, morels and chanterelles, I quickly discovered I had no need to fear disappointment. This meal would live up to my expectations. After a few cocktails and the appetizers, Chef Larry and Jessica joined the party. They had been at a meeting with the City of McAllen talking about branding the city into the future. The Delgados don’t simply run their restaurants, but they are also leaders in the community and directors of the Rio Grande Valley chapter of the Texas Chefs Association.
We continued to eat, drink and be merry while chatting about the food of the Valley and how Larry’s restaurants came to be. We dined on the single best pork chop that I’ve ever had in my life, steak that melted in my mouth, and fried chicken that had been deboned and sous vide. Salt impressed the hell out of me, and given my lofty expectations, that blew me away even more.
My tour of the Rio Grande Valley and specifically McAllen felt authentic. People were genuine, happy to see me, happy to be seen, and sincere in their appreciation of home. I drank beers with great people, ate some of the best value tacos I’ve ever had, and enjoyed several truly memorable meals. McAllen delivered everything I’d want to make me want to go back. Next time, though, I’ll be prepared to do even more research on the best tacos, and I’ll keep some tricks up my sleeve for Gov’t Taco!
Ever since my recipe won the Tony Chachere's Tailgating Cook-off I've had numerous requests for the actual recipe of my Blackberry Bourbon Bone-in Boston Butt. Since I don't actually have it written down anywhere on the blog, I decided it might make sense to feature it in on Bite and Booze one last time detailing the ingredients and instructions on how to make it!
Jay Ducote flanked by Celeste Chachere and Celeste Podojil at the Tony Chachere's Tailgating Cook-off
The recipe is fairly simple. It combines meat, an injection, a rub, and hours of smoke. Here are the ingredients you'll need:
1 large bone-in pork shoulder (Boston Butt)
1 jar of blackberry jam (8 oz or so)
1 pound of local honey
1 cup of bourbon
1 Tablespoon of fresh ground black pepper
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning
Louisiana Pecan Wood
Ingredients for the Blackberry Bourbon Bone-in Boston Butt
So let's start with the injection. The idea is that we're going to flavor the pork both inside and outside the meat. The ingredients that get injected inside the pork will marinate the meat as well as provide some bold flavor. Take the blackberry jam, honey, bourbon, and black pepper and mix it all together really well. I use a food processor or blender for this part. Once it is all combined, strain the seeds out if there were seeds in your blackberry jam. They will have trouble getting through the injector.
Now take your pork shoulder. One side will probably have an excessive layer of fat on it. Go ahead an trim most of that off. This isn't required, but I've found that I prefer to do that before cooking the meat rather than afterwards. There is no precision required, just make sure you are trimming off fat and not muscle. Pork has so much fat in it to begin with that you don't need that extra layer.
Now the fun part... lay the trimmed pork shoulder down on a pan of some kind and start injecting the blackberry/bourbon/honey/pepper mixture into it. Feel free to take a little sip... it should be sweet, fruity, peppery, and have a little kick from the bourbon! Stick your needle into the pork shoulder all over the place. Be very liberal with it. You might as well use it all! Flip the pork over and make sure to get the other side too.
Inject the pork all over the place!!!
Once you have thoroughly injected the mixture into the pork, the next step is to rub the outside. The rub is a simple combination of brown sugar and Tony Chachere's. That will provide the sweetness of sugar with the saltiness and spiciness of Tony's. The brown sugar will caramelize on the outside and provide a nice bark while the salt and peppers will penetrate into the pork and leave it flavorful. Just blend the ingredients together and rub it all over the outside of the pork shoulder. It will mix with the runoff blackberry mixture, but that's ok. Just let it form a paste on the outside of the pork shoulder.
Now get your smoker going. This varies completely based on what kind of smoker you have... so its hard to give specific advice. As a general rule of thumb you'll want to smoke the pork shoulder at 200 to 250 degrees until the internal temperature has maintained around 165-170 degrees. I usually smoke it closer to 200 degrees, so it takes 8-10 hours. I've even left them in the smoker for over 12 hours with no problem, but it was very indirect heat. If your smoker stays hotter than that, you won't want to leave the shoulder on for that long.
The finished product should look something like the picture below. The bark on the outside should be nice and caramelized. The inside will be tender, juicy, and delicious. This certainly isn't a traditional pulled pork recipe, so don't think of it that way... although I do suggest you pull the pork apart. If it won't pull apart with your hands then it really isn't cooked enough. It may be safe to eat, but it hasn't broken down like it needs to.
LSU's Winning Recipe: Blackberry Bourbon Bone-In Boston Butt
Jay readies the pork shoulder for consumption
Pulled pork at its finest!
Once you've removed the pork shoulder from your smoker and given it a little time to rest and cool, you should be ready to start pulling it apart. Just grab and handful and go to town! I hope this recipe brings you as much happiness as it did for me. Enjoy!
I recently had the pleasure of being selected as one of the top 25 challengers in the Marx Foods Iron Foodie 2010 contest on Foodie BlogRoll. You can find the blog post that I wrote to enter here... but the best part was getting to cook with the secret ingredients that Marx Foods sent me! I had no idea what to expect when I opened the package, but to my surprise there were some pretty interesting ingredients awaiting some culinary creativity.
Eight Products To Choose From
The challenge asked each competitor to choose three products from the group of eight secret ingredients. My secret ingredients included:
Dried Aji Panca Chilies
Vanilla Beans
Fennel Pollen
Dried Wild Porcini Mushrooms
Tellicherry Peppercorns
Dulse Seaweed
Maple Sugar
Smoked Sea Salt
The dish I decided to create was a pan-seared duck breast with smoked sea salt and dried Aji Panca chilies over a homemade Tellicherry peppercorn pasta with a wild Porcini mushroom cream sauce. I got hungry just thinking about it.
The first step was to place a little bit of the smoked salt on the skin side of the duck breasts and let them sit over night in the refrigerator. This helps to draw out the moisture in the skin and allow it to get extra flavorful and crispy when cooking the next day.
Duck Breasts with Smoked Sea Salt
Next I needed to rehydrate the dried wild porcini mushrooms, so I placed them in a bowl with some warm water. I also gathered some of my other ingredients for sauce including shallots, olive oil, white wine, brandy, cream, butter, salt, and some tellicherry peppercorns.
Imgredients for the Wild Porcini Mushroom Sauce
Next it came time to make the pasta. I gathered the flour, eggs, water, olive oil, salt, and crushed black peppercorns and then starting combining them to make the dough.
Tellicherry Peppercorn Pasta Ingredients
After I got the pasta rolled out and cut, it was time to put the focus back on the porcini mushroom cream sauce. I started with cooking down the shallots in olive oil. After they were translucent, I added the brandy and white wine (1 cup each), peppercorns, and mushrooms, then let that reduce about before adding a cup of cream. Once that had reduced about halfway, I started whisking in the butter.
Wine, Brandy, Shallots, Mushrooms, and Peppercorns Reducing
Wild Porcini Mushroom Cream Sauce
Now that my sauce was left to just simmer and let the flavors continue to meld together, all I had to do was boil my pasta and cook the duck breasts. I put the homemade pasta in boiling salted water and let it get nice and tender.
Boiling the Homemade Peppercorn Pasta
And now the highlight: I added a little bit of chili oil that I made with the dried Aji Panca chilies and olive oil to a pan, sprinkled some chili seeds on the salted duck breasts, and seared the duck skin-side down for a few minutes to ensure a crispy skin.
Duck Breasts Searing in Chili Oil
After I got a good sear on the skin side, I flipped the breasts over, seared the bottom very briefly, then moved the pan to the oven with the skin up. I let them continue to cook in a 400 degree oven for about 8-9 minutes, then removed them and let the duck rest for a bit.
Crispy-Skin Duck Breasts Moved to the Oven
Smoked Sea Salt and Aji Panca Chili Duck Breasts Resting Before Being Sliced
Now that everything was cooked, all I had to do was plate the dish. I move the boiled pasta into the pan that the duck breasts cooked in with little chili oil residue. I then ladled some of the mushroom cream sauce on to the pasta and tossed that around to get coated really well. I started the plate with the pasta and cream sauce at the bottom and then topped that with a sliced duck breast, then finished the dish with a drizzle of the cream sauce over the duck and a little parsley for garnish. Bon Appetit!
Finished Product: Seared Duck Breast with Smoked Sea Salt and Dried Aji Panca Chilies over Homemade Tellicherry Peppercorn Pasta with a Wild Porcini Mushroom Cream Sauce
The second round of Project Food Blog asks bloggers to step out of their comfort zone and cook a classic dish from another culture. Having never traveled there or attempted to cook any of their cuisine, I felt a desire to take my talents to Asia where Jeremy Wells, author of the blog Faire Les Courses, helped me narrow that down to Korean Barbecue. I've never eaten Korean BBQ before despite writing about the food and drinks of both North Korea and South Korea in my World Cup series, so I knew this would most certainly be a challenge. Still, I figured that with my love and talents for American barbeque, I'd be up to this task!
Oriental Food on Lee Drive in Baton Rouge, La
I started by doing a little research on Korean BBQ by browsing other food blogs and doing some Internet searches. I quickly decided that I'd try to make some galbi, or beef short ribs. In Korean, galbi literally translates into "rib". Most Korean ribs are marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, garlic, sugar, and sometimes fruit like Korean pear. To make my galbi, I first had to do a little grocery shopping around Baton Rouge, Louisiana to find the right ingredients.
Stop number one took me to a store that is aptly named Oriental Food. One great thing about exploring the underbelly of Baton Rouge is that this city really offers an outstanding collection of specialty stores from various ethnic and national cuisines. Oriental Food is actually owned by a Korean family so their selection of sauces and authentic spices was pretty impressive. After a few recommendations from the owner, I left Oriental Food with some Korean soy sauce, sesame oil, a couple Asian pears, and some kimchi. More on that later.
Oriental Food's Selection of Sauces
After buying the essential Asian ingredients the time had come to procure some beef. I took off to Hi-Nabor, a local grocery store with an above average selection of freshly butchered meats. I wound up buying some beef spare ribs and a few pounds of boneless beef short ribs. Since I've never cooked Korean-style ribs before I thought it might be good to try a couple different cuts to play around with on the grill.
Ingredients used in the Korean BBQ Marinade
When I got home I created my marinade. After reading several different galbi recipes I took a stab at making my own sauce in which to soak the meat. I first collected all the ingredients that I needed. I used the soy sauce, sesame oil, and Korean pear that I got at Oriental Food. Added to those items were some garlic, brown sugar, onion, and black pepper. I finely chopped up most of the onion, the whole pear, and about 2/3 of the garlic bulb and added that mixture to a blend of the other ingredients. After combining everything together, I poured the marinade over the beef.
Boneless beef short ribs and spare ribs in Korean-style marinade
Jay Ducote places the meat on the Monstrosity
Fresh beef on the hot grill
I let the beef marinate overnight and then lit up the grill for an afternoon barbeque on Sunday. The preferred Korean method is to grill galbi over charcoal, so that's exactly what I did. Using the wonderful Third Row Monstrosity barbeque pit, I prepared the grill and placed the meat over the hot coals. Knowing that beef doesn't take long to cook, and being a fan of medium-rare temperatures, I knew it wouldn't take too long to cook the galbi over the sizzling coals.
Korean-style beef spare ribs
The spare ribs turned out to be ridiculously flavorful. The combination of soy and pear came through the most and was followed by the tastes of the sesame oil and garlic. I'm definitely going to play around with this idea a little more and try to get some bolder flavors by perhaps making a barbeque sauce that would complement the marinade. Even still, I deemed this first attempt at Korean ribs to be a great success.
Korean Kimchi
I also took the liberty of picking up some kimchi while at Oriental Food. Kimchi is a Korean staple that is basically fermented cabbage with a red pepper sauce. There are a bunch of different variations on kimchi throughout South Korea, and this one tasted pretty darn good. It is typically served as a side dish with almost any meal, so naturally I used it to help dress my galbi. I sliced up the boneless short ribs in order to make lettuce wraps. With some thinly sliced beef cooked to an ideal temperature and the addition of a little kimchi in the lettuce wrap, this Korean BBQ ended up satisfying quite a few hungry appetites! I really enjoyed playing around with some new flavors and exotic ingredients. Hopefully this Project Food Blog journey will continue so I can try a few more new recipes!
