Re: Gimme an Idea or Whip Me Now (what?)...(WUZ: Re: [CH] Fresh, frozen, canned salsa

Charles Demas (demas@tiac.net)
Thu, 8 Jan 1998 02:10:02 -0500 (EST) 

On Wed, 7 Jan 1998, Inagaddadavida wrote:

> Anywho, question be: any of you wunnerful chileheads got an idea for a
> nice upbeat, "highclass" chilehead dish that you would just find groovy
> as can be if you walked into a ritzy country club and found it to be a
> special for the eve?  Have basically all the meats/cuts you can imagine,
> possibly some buffalo tenderloin coming in.  Chef ain't gonna order much
> fishy for me to play with other than salmon (fillets, once I cut them
> monsters) and prob. some tuna; maybe some mahi-mahi. 

Well, ... I really love game, but I don't hunt, and being cheap, I 
am unwilling to pay the price for venison in general, although I 
love it, and would order it out if I weren't eating duck, another 
favorite of mine.

So much for the buildup.  Here's a recipe for Venison Vindaloo.

Since venison is so lean, braising it is a good way to cook it, and
vindaloo, ... well, vindaloo can be VERY chilehead if you want it to be.

This recipe http://www.andreas.com/susan/venvinda.html comes from a 
highly respected source, Susan Hattie Steinsapir.  I've never made 
it, but see what you think.  I've had the her Goat Cheese Torta, 
at a rec.food.cooking cookin, and it was great!

There are a bunch of recipes (a lot with venison) at this site:
Susan's Page http://www.andreas.com/susan/susan.html

Check it out, it may have what you're looking for.

Here's the recipe:


                             Venison Vindaloo
                                       
     This should serve six people. Use about 1 & 1/2 pounds of venison
     from shoulder, rump or leg cut into 3/4 inch cubes.
     
Marinade

     * 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
     * 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
     * 1 onion, peeled and quartered
     * 6 cloves garlic
     * 2 tablespoons fresh chopped ginger
     * 2 tablespoons vinegar (use white or cider)
     * 2 tablespoons corn oil or canola oil
     * 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
     * 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
       
     To prepare marinade: Heat small frying pan over medium heat. Add
     cumin and mustard seeds, roasting them, stirring constantly for
     about 3 minutes. The cumin seeds will darken and the mustard seeds
     gray. Place in a small bowl and allow to cool for a bit. Using a
     coffee grinder reserved for the purpose, grind the spices to a fine
     dust. Set aside.
     Put onion, garlic, ginger, vinegar and oil into a food processor.
     Process until the contents make a pasty puree.
     Put the venison into a large glass or ceramic bowl. Add the ground
     cumin and mustard seeds, pureed mix, cinnamon, and clove. Coat the
     venison chunks well with this and marinate from 8 hours to 48
     hours. The longer you can marinate it, the better. Keep the meat in
     the refrigerator while marinating.
     
Cooking Sauce

     * 1 inch ball of tamarind pulp
     * 1/2 cup corn oil or canola oil
     * 1 & 1/2 cups thinly sliced onions
     * 1 & 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
     * 1 & 1/2 teaspoons hot red pepper
     * 1 & 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika
     * 1 teaspoon kosher salt
       
     To prepare cooking sauce: Put the tamarind pulp into a bowl and 1 &
     1/4 cups boiling water. Let the pulp soak for 15 minutes. Mash the
     pulp with the back of spoon. Strain the liquid, squeezing the pulp
     as much as possible, into another small bowl. Set aside. Discard
     the stringy fiber.
     
Preparation

    1. Heat the oil over medium heat. Add onions and stir constantly to
       prevent burning. Fry the onions until they turn caramel brown,
       about 12 minutes, stirring all the while to keep them from
       burning.
    2. Lower the heat to medium, add the turmeric, red pepper and
       paprika. When the spices start to sizzle and darken (about 15
       seconds), add the venison (reserving the marinade) and fry until
       the meat is slightly seared and the oil begins to separate from
       the gravy (about 10 minutes). Add the tamarind juice, salt and any
       remaining marinade, and bring to a boil. lower heat and cook,
       partly covered, until meat is thoroughly cooked and fork tender
       (about 40 minutes). Taste for seasoning. Serve.
    3. This dish freezes well and improves in time. Serve with rice.
       ______________________________________________________________
     
This sounds like a great dish to me, but I really like tamarind, and
I think it might not be too spicy, for your country club prople.

It has an interesting alliterative name too.  :-)

If you do try this Rael, let us know what you think.  


Chuck Demas
Needham, Mass.



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