Tango Spice Test Kitchen

Rome Is Burning - Yes!

Cheese & Rome!

Add The Jalapeño & Kale

Wrapped In Bacon & Ready To Bake

On The Wire Rack

Sauced Thighs!

Lookin' Good

Tasty Thighs Indeed!

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Tango's Southwest Sunset Cranberry Bread

Sometimes the weather outside is just a little too chilly (8 degrees this morning) for firing up some charcoal or wood to do any outdoor cooking.

It is during these times when you look at the spice cabinet that an idea pops into your head.

Let’s make some Cranberry Bread! Not just any cranberry bread, this is Tango Spice after all - Southwest Sunset Cranberry Bread!

Just happened to have all the ingredients I needed, including some ‘fresh’ cranberries. By ‘fresh’ I mean these were fresh picked here on Long Island before Thanksgiving and what we did not use then was frozen in one cup portions for future use. Lucky me!

Here is the ingredient list and the method I used to prepare it.

Southwest Sunset Cranberry Bread

Ingredients:

1 3/4 Cup AP Flour

2 tsp Tango Spice Southwest Sunset

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

2 Eggs

1 1/4 Cup Sugar

1 Stick Unsalted Butter

1/2 Cup Ricotta Cheese

1/2 Cup Buttermilk

1 TBS Lemon Extract

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Cranberries

Directions:

In a medium size bowl, mix flour, Southwest Sunset, baking powder & salt. Set aside.

Put the buttermilk & ricotta in a small bowl and blend together.

In a mixer bowl add the eggs and sugar, beat until thoroughly combined and light in color.

Add butter and beat on medium speed until thoroughly combined.

Add the ricotta-buttermilk mixture, lemon & vanilla extracts. Mix on low speed until combined.

Add the dry ingredients and mix well on low speed, do not over beat.

Fold in the cranberries by hand until just combined.

Pour batter into a 5X9 loaf pan prepared with cooking spray.

Place on middle rack in a preheated 350 degree oven for 55 to 60 minutes. Skewer should pull out clean.

Allow to cool completely before removing from pan.

I am sure you will enjoy this bread very much. The sweetness from the butter milk and sugar goes great with the tart from the lemon and ricotta. Underlying all this is the the subtle heat from the Southwest Sunset.

When you bake this, please let me know how great yours turns out!

Please - Give This A Try!

As Always, Thank You For Reading!

Tango Spice On YouTube!

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Friday, December 5, 2014

Tango Joe Cooks Up Pigs In A Cornfield

One of the many great things about the cooking community on YouTube is the wide variety of awesome video recipes which are presented by folks who truly enjoy sharing their passion for food.

It is in this spirit that I attempt to recreated a Dutch Oven dish which I saw over at Outdoor Cast Iron Cooking.

Thank you to Joanie & Dean for posting your great videos, the food you present and the locations you film are always awesome.

Here is a meal called Pigs In A Cornfield - with a name like that you know it has to be incredible!

After watching their video of Pigs In A Cornfield, we knew that we had to set aside a day to be outdoors and cook this one up.

Here is what we cooked and how we cooked it.

Our version has a few different ingredients and the cooking method was different as well. I cooked this over a wood fire and used some small lit logs on top. Using briquettes is a more accurate way to regulate your temperatures, but for me, a wood fire is more fun. We used a 12” Dutch oven.

Pigs In A Cornfield!

Pigs In A Cornfield

Ingredients:

1 Lb Breakfast Sausage

1 Lb Pork Kielbasa

3 Pork Steaks / thin cut works best

12 Cobbette Style Corn On The Cob

3 Russet Potatoes / large dice

1 Spanish Onion / rough chopped

5 Cloves Garlic / chopped

4 Jalapeños / sliced lenghwise - seeded

1 Can Cheese Soup

1 Can Cream Of Broccoli Soup

1 Can Cream Of Celery Soup

Tango Spice Southwest Sunset

Directions:

Spread the cheese soup in the Dutch Oven

Place the cobbettes of corn, standing on end, around the oven wall

Add one half the potatoes, onions & garlic in the center

Sprinkle on some Southwest Sunset

Add a few jalapeños

Add half the sausage

Add half the Kielbasa

Spread one can creamy soup over ingredients

Add the other half the potatoes & onions

Add the other half of the sausage

Add a few more jalapeños

Add the rest of the onions & garlic

Add second half of the Kielbasa

Spread another can creamy soup over ingredients

Sprinkle on some more Southwest Sunset

Place pork steaks over everything ingredients

Top with Southwest Sunset!

Place the lid on and get cooking

My Dutch oven was set on a rack which is about 8 inches above the floor of my cooking area. Before starting the food prep I started a fire going with some charcoal and a few small splits of oak. As the wood burned down I just added more splits until there was a good coal bed and some nice sized chucks.

Once the Dutch over was full of ingredients it was placed on the rack with a some of the hot coals moved underneath. Also a couple of small chunks were placed on top.

The coal method was calling for 8 coals under and sixteen on top. I kept this is mind while using the oak splits.

After one hour I removed the lid and flipped the pork steaks. The aroma was very, very nice and the dish was happily bubbling away.

Place the cover on and cook for one more hour with the same method, keeping the coal bed going and keeping nice hot chunks on top.

After the second hour I just took the Dutch oven off the fire, cleaned off the lid and let it sit for 20 minutes to cool a bit.

I will say that this was a great meal for a cool autumn evening, very hearty and satisfying.

Flavor wise it was well balance, the taters were perfect and heat level from the Southwest Sunset was really nice. I like the pork steaks and the sausage was excellent. I will say that the next time I make this I will forego the Kielbasa. Not that it was bad, but it seemed a little overkill and Kielbasa tastes better in other dishes.

All in all this was a very fun and tasty cook and I hope that you give it a try.

As Always, Thank You For Reading!

Tango Spice Company!

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This Is The Basic Setup

Just Like Camping

Good Cookin'!

Monday, December 1, 2014

Tango Cajun Smoked Duck with Southwest Pear & Sausage Dressing!

On a beautiful day in November here on Long Island it was a great day for a test run of two new recipes!

The first time we have ever cooked duck and smoking it on the WSM seemed like a great first cook.

So Gosh Darn Good!

Cajun Smoked Duck

1 5 1/2 to 6 Lb Duck

2 Oranges / peeled and halved

2 Small Yellow Onions / peeled and halved

Tango Spice Cajun Rub

The bird was cleaned and stuffed with the oranges and onions. I cut a couple fine slits in the breast skin and along the back bone, then applied a nice coating of our Cajun Rub, this was in the hope of draining off some of the fat. Easy as that and it was ready for the smoker.

The WSM varied between 300 and 320 degrees for the entire cook. We did not baste or rotate the duck at all, just checked it after the first hour, then again at 20 minute intervals to make sure it was not getting too crispy. Yeah, I know, crispy duck is a good thing.

The cuts in the skin really helped with the fat, so the meat was moist and not overly fatty.

We will certainly be smoking up duck like this again a few times over the winter in order to get it down pat.

To go along with the duck what better side dish than a nice pan of smoked dressing?

Southwest Pear & Sausage Dressing

1 Cup Chopped Onion

1 Cup Chopped Celery

1 Cup Chopped Red Bell Pepper

5 Cloves Smashed Garlic

2 Asian Pears / peeled and diced

2 Cups Diced Smoked Sausage

Some White Wine

Some Chicken Broth

Some Bread Cubes / Martins Stuffing Bread is awesome!

The sausage we used was a fennel Italian from Tuscany Gourmet Market in Miller place, NY that we put on the Weber Kettle a few days prior, as we knew we’d be needing it for this recipe.

This is a standard type dressing.

Saute the onions, celery & belle pepper in some bacon fat for a few minutes, then add the garlic and pears.

Once the pears start to break down a little add the sausage and cook for a few more minutes.

Deglaze the pan with some wine and transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Allow to cool for just a couple of minutes, then add the bread cubes. You can add some more wine or chicken broth to add moisture to the bread and get it to the consistency you like.

We placed the dressing in an aluminum pan then placed it on the Weber Kettle that was running about 275 degrees for an hour or so. Sometimes the more a dressing cooks on the grill the better.

Have to say that this made for a great dinner and we even recreated it for Thanksgiving dinner the a couple of days later.

I hope that you give these recipes your personal spin and let me know how great your turn out.

As Always, Thank You For Reading!

Tango Spice Cajun Rub!

Stuffed With Oranges & Onions!

Let's Get Smokin'!

Hear The Sizzle!

Autumnal Smoke Signals!

Dressing On The Kettle!

How Do You Like My Duck?

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Midnight Espresso Corned Beef in the Crock Pot!

The other day I was cruising the meat department at the local grocers and found that their corned beed brisket was on sale. Not that this is a very expensive hunk of meat, but any sale on beef is just fine with me.

Of course, usually you’ll see me cook up this on the WSM or the stick burner so this time I wanted to cook with something a little different.

This is going to be a Crock Pot cook. Not everyone has a grill or a smoker to be cooking up some meat and a crock pot is something that I think most kitchens should have.

Here is how this was done.

Midnight Espresso Corned Beef in the Crock Pot

Ingredients:

3 lb Corned Beef Brisket

4 Carrots / peeled & chopped into 3” pieces

6 Small Red Potatoes / unpeeled

1 Spanish Onion / rough chopped

3 TBS Yellow Mustard

2 - 3 TBS Tango Spice Midnight Espresso

---

1 Small Head Cabbage / cored & quartered

---

1/4 Cup Water

1/2 Cup Honey

2 TBS Grainy Mustard

2 tsp Horseradish

1 TBS Worcestershire Sauce

1 TBS Tango Spice Midnight Espresso

Directions:

1. Rinse the corned beef under cold water and pat dry.

2. Place the corned beef, fat side down in a 6 quart crock pot.

3. Add the potatoes, onions and carrots around the beef.

4. Spread yellow mustard over the top of the corned beef.

5. Pour the beer around the beef.

6. Sprinkle Midnight Espresso over top the beef, veggies.

7. Cook on low for 7 hours.

8. Remove the lid and add the cabbage wedges, cut side down.

9. Cook for 1 more hour.

10. Remove meat from the crock pot and set aside. Tent with foil

11. With slotted spoon, remove veggies to a bowl.

12. Stain juices into a medium pot.

13. Place the pot over high heat.

14. Bring to a boil, add the 1/4 cup water, honey, grainy mustard, horseradish, Worcestershire, Midnight Espresso and mix.

15. Lower to a simmer & reduce the sauce by half 20 - 25 minutes.

16. Slice the meat against the grain and serve with the glaze.

I have to say that this was a good dinner, very tasty and hearty. The one thing is that the corned beef shredded as I sliced it so the next time I may back off an hour on the initial cook time. The taste was awesome, and the left overs were even better.

I hope that you give this a try, as crock season is here!

As Always, Thank You For Reading!

Gather Your Ingredients!

Coated In Midnight Espresso!

Taters!

Gotta Have Carrots!

Onions & Mustard!

Had To Add More Midnight Espresso

Cabbage Cabbage!

Dinner Is Served!

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Grilled Oysters!

Long Island is a seafood lover’s east coast dream, with the fresh catch of the day availably in almost every town. In spite of this fact, there are a few creatures of the sea I have yet to try.

One of these are oysters. Nope, never could bring myself to try them. That is until I read about grilling them. Indeed, everything tastes better when grilled.

I picked up a dozen oysters from Peconic Pearls and set about getting these gems of the sea cookin’.

Now the method I used is probably not 'the right way', but no biggy, as they finished ‘product’ was darn tasty.

When I got them home I fired up the 18” Weber kettle with some Kingsford Blue. While the coals were getting all heated up I put a cast iron pan on the propane stove and heated up some butter and garlic.

Once the coals were nicely ashed over I placed the the oysters rounded side down directly over the heat. After a couple of minutes they started to open, at which point I moved the opened ones off to the side and removed the top shell. When they were all open and the tops of the shells were taken off I put about a tablespoon-ish of the garlic & butter in with the oyster. I moved them back over direct heat for about two minutes, when the butter garlic oyster juice started to boil.

Once they were all bubbling away nicely I took them off the heat and put on a plate to cool just enough to eat.

I will say that the oyster was pretty darn good, with just the butter and garlic, but with a splash of Louisiana style hot sauce, they we fantastic.

After this I will definitely be enjoying oysters again.

As Always, Thank You For Reading!

Oyster Directly Over The Coals

Peek A Boo - The Oyster Sees You!

The Oysters Were Great With Garlic & Butter

But They Were Awesome With Some Hot Sauce!

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

One Pan Spicy Quinoa!

Quinoa?

Yes Indeed, when I first saw that word I mentally placed a question mark after it. It even took me a while just to learn how to pronounce it correctly.

My first thought was what the heck is Quinoa. I had heard people say how much they enjoy it, read recipes with it as the main ingredient, but had sadly never tried it.

I would now like to say thank you to Angie Spada from over at the FB group Motivational Fitness, Strength & Nutrition for posting a recipe the other day for a quinoa dish the inspired me to give this ‘new to me’ pantry staple a try.

Of course, my version is just a little different from the original, but that is the beauty of the internet recipe collective. You find a recipe that you like, you write it down with a #2 pencil then change it up as you cook.

This is a VERY TASTY dish - a real must try. Hat tip to Angie for posting this one and inspiring me to give quinoa a try here at the Tango Test Kitchen.

Please, give this a go in your kitchen and let Angie & I know how much you enjoyed it.

I have included links to her FaceBook Group and her YouTube page. Stop by, join in on the conversation and let Angie inspire you as well.

One Pan Mexican Quinoa

Ingredients:

1 TBS Olive Oil

3 Cloves Garlic / minced

1 Jalapeños / minced

1 Cup Quinoa

1 Cup Crawfish Stock (sub vegetable stock)

1 (15-ounce) Can Black Beans / drained & rinsed

1 (14.5 oz) Can DelMonte Petite Diced Chili Style Tomatoes

1 cup Corn Kernels / frozen or canned

1 tsp Tango Spice Southwest Sunset (sub chili powder)

1 tsp Cumin

1 Avocado / diced **

Juice of 1 lime

2 TBS Chopped Fresh Cilantro

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and jalapeño, sauté 1 to 2 minutes.

Stir in quinoa, crawfish stock, beans, tomatoes, corn, Southwest Sunset and cumin.

Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until quinoa is cooked through, about 25 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in avocado, lime juice and cilantro.

Serve immediately.***

I will let you all know now that this was a great dish, tasty and a really nice texture. I whole heartedly recommend you giving this a try as soon as possible.

** Do not dice the avocado until the dish is off the heat. Keep that crispness as you serve & enjoy.

*** This was great while it was hot, though you should know that it was darn good as a cold side as well. If you make extra, set aside what you are going to cool before putting the avocado in. Dice one and add it just before serving cold.

As Always, Thank You For Reading!