Sunday, July 5, 2009

Cider Adobo

I haven't got a clue what to write about.

Some of you bop in here for the recipes. Others of you drop by to read the stories. Both can be easy. Both can be insurmountably hard. Today it's the story.

I keep an inventory of prepared recipes and photos that I pick and choose from. Sometimes a story reminds me of a meal, sometimes the meal jogs a story idea. Today, nothing. I have an ocean of photos, an encyclopedia's worth of recipes, an embarrassment of food, but "I got nothin'".

Maybe it's because of the long weekend. Maybe it's because of the heat. Maybe my brain is just empty.

That would explain the dull echoing sound.

So today I'm going to steal from the newspaper columnists. I'm going to write about nothing. It's the oldest trick in the book. Got nothing to write about? Write about nothing! No talk about Federer winning an epic match; no blithering about Palin quitting in mid-stream. Nothing.

Sigh, maybe the dog wants to go for another walk...

Sometimes cooking is like my brain: bereft of creative ideas. The easiest solution is to take something "normal" and add a different twist. That is the easy part - start fire, put meat on fire, turn over, eat. The twist, not so easy. Well, I scoured my cookbooks and print outs and found Cider Adobo. It fits today's conundrum of trying to make pate out of chopped liver. This sauce gives grilled meats a nice sweet-sour bite. Enjoy...


Cider Adobo
from Cowboy In The Kitchen by Grady Spears & Robb Walsh

3/4 cup red wine
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup apricot preserves
1/4 cup honey
2 TBSP packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon peeled & minced fresh ginger
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Place all the ingredients in a large heavy pan and stir well to combine.

Place the pan over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Pay attention, this sauce has a desire to boil over!

When boiling, reduce heat to medium and cook the adobo uncovered until it reduces by half; this will take approximately 20 - 25 minutes.

The sauce should have a syrupy consistency.

Serve with grilled meats, especially game (quail, duck, pheasant), pork and chicken.

Refrigerated, the adobo will keep for about 5 - 7 days.


See nothing to it. You can barely call it cooking - put stuff in pot, boil, don't let it boil over, reduce, cool eat. But in the end you've added another taste weapon to your arsenal.


OK crablings, time to go. Until next time, remember you can do it, you can cook.

2 comments:

WineWizardBob said...

Anytime there is the flavor of apple in a dish, German Riesling is the classic match. Look for one that has the word "Spatlese" on the label. This late picked Riesling will have just enough sweetness to compliment the Adobo no matter what meat you put it on.

Downside, expect to spend 10-30 a bottle. And this is one occassion when price will make a quality difference, and it's worth it.

WineWizardBob said...

Cider Adobo, sorta reminds me of Whiskey A Go Go. Ahhh, the 60's.