Re: [CH] Old Recipes
Rich McCormack (macknet@pacbell.net)
Mon, 29 Apr 2002 09:28:12 -0700
Bill & Linda Moats wrote:
>
> I was just sitting around dreaming of chiles when I said to myself, "Self, I
> wonder who has the oldest recipes saved from the chile-heads list". Well
> here's mine. Any older ones? I'll bet there are!
I went through my collection of dusty old floppy disks upon which is
archived all my "sent" mail when I used CTSNET as my ISP, and found
what I believe to be my original "subscribe" message to the C-H list
dated 02/04/95. Since I saved all the digests I received, I suppose
the first C-H recipe I saved would be the first recipe in the first
digest I received, v1 #207...
-----
Date: Sat, 4 Feb 1995 13:43:35 -0500
From: "douglas allen thompson" <aesculus@TSO.UC.EDU>
Subject: Shrimp Herradura Anejo
Message-ID: <199502041843.NAA23105@tso2.tso.uc.edu>
We just had our second weekend here in Northern Kentucky with our plants
getting the "cold white mulch" and, of course, we knew it was time to
barbeque!
Shrimp Herradura Anejo (this recipe is easily adjusted for more or less
servings):
3 lbs. large shrimp, shelled and deveined (we use Tiger Shrimp)
Marinate them several hours in:
4 fl. oz. of Herradura Anejo tequila ( or El Patron, Tres Generaciones,
Etc.)
Juice of 4 large limes
small bunch of chopped cilantro (or parsley)
1 fl. oz. of olive oil
zest from two oranges or tangerines
1-2 crushed dried habaneros chilis
heaping spoonful of brown sugar or honey or some other sweetener
After marinating the shrimp, skewer with onions and cloves of
garlic,chunks
of oranges, limes and other citrus.
Barbeque quickly on hot grill (until shrimp turn pink and curl slightly)
Enjoy!
Adios
-----
However, in March 1996, I accessed the C-H archive to fill in what
was sent to the list before I became a subscriber. The oldest file
I downloaded was chb4dgst.unx, a unix format file with the following
recipe which may or may not be the oldest C-H mailing list recipe,
I don't know...but, it would be the oldest in my collection of C-H
recipes. FWIW...
-----
Date: Sun, 5 Jun 1994 18:10:16 +0200
From: pete herzer <herzer@urz.unibas.ch>
Subject: Recipe: Szechuan Orange Beef
This is great! I'm really glad that a sector of the Net is finally
devoted to chiles and their respective usage in world society today.
Thanks to the person(s) who set it up! Here is a recipe I have for
a dish which I think is similar to that found in finer Szechuan
restaurants (in NJ and NY, that is ;-) ).
This recipe is a modification of a recipe for Orange Chicken
posted by Russell S. Finn back in Dec. 1993. The suggestion of using
water chestnut flour to coat the beef was a great one (it really is
important to the dish), but unfortunately I forgot the name of the
person who sent it to me; I thank him/her anyway. This recipe is one
of the closest I've gotten to a Chinese restaurant-style. Hope ya'll
enjoy it.
Orange Beef
===========
Beef:
1 lb. (400-500g) beef (I find rumpsteak better than flank), cut
into 2" x 1" x 1/4" slices.
3/4 cup pure water chestnut flour
1/2 cup water
4 TBSP vegetable oil
pinch of salt
Mix together all ingredients except beef. The coating will have
the consistency of thick gravy. Stir in the beef to coat; it will
not coat heavily, but that's okay. After it sits for a while, it
gets like wall putty. Let sit for 20-30 minutes; I do it the night
before and let sit in 'fridge overnight.
Heat oil in a deep-fryer, pot, or wok; enough oil to deep-fry the
beef. If you hold a wooden chopstick in the oil and tiny bubbles
stream from the tip of the stick, the oil is hot enough (I use the
highest setting on an electric burner). Add several pieces of the
coated beef to the hot oil and fry for 5-8 minutes (you may want to
remove a piece after 5 minutes and cut it in half and taste it to
see how you like it. I cook it for 7-8 minutes until parts of the
outside start to turn dark brown; it's a matter of personal choice).
Put the first batch into the oven (on low) to keep warm while you
fry the rest. Prepare the sauce while you fry the beef.
Sauce:
1/2 cup beef broth (I use 1/2 cup water + 1/2 tsp beef boullion)
4 TBSP white vinegar
8 TBSP sugar
3 TBSP dry rice wine or pale dry sherry
3 TBSP mushroom soy sauce
3/4 tsp oyster sauce
1 1/2 tsp minced ginger
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp finely sliced scallion
pinch of white pepper
cornstarch mixture (2 TBSP cornstarch + 2 TBSP water)
Mix all ingredients together and set aside.
Get Ready:
pieces of dried orange peel (wash orange very well and peel 1/2"
pieces and place the peel onto paper towels; let air-dry 2-3 days)
dried red chile peppers (cut into halves)
2 coarsly chopped scallion bulbs
2 coarsly chopped garlic cloaves
2 TBSP vegetable oil
Now:
After beef is finished and waiting in the oven, heat a wok on high
heat and add the 2 TBSP of oil. Add the dried chiles, pieces of
orange peel, and scallion (the Orange Chicken recipe calls for 5
pieces of orange peel and 3 dried chiles. I use 20 pieces of orange
peel and 25-30 chiles, but I like it hot. The heat amount is your
choice, but I would use 10 pieces of orange peel initially. You can
increase it next time if it's not "orangy" enough for you). Stir-fry
about 30 seconds; peel starts to give nice orange smell and chiles
start to darken. Add the garlic and stir-fry another 30 seconds or
so 'till peels start to brown and chiles turning black. Stir-up the
sauce mixture and add to the wok. Stir constantly until sauce
thickens and starts to bubble (1-2 minutes). Add the pieces of beef
and stir until thoroughly coated. Serve with rice.
You can also serve this dish over a bed of brocolli(sp?) which has
been stir-fried or lightly steamed (still crunchy, but not raw).
The water chestnut flour is the key to the crunchy coating. You
can remove the orange peel after it's done if you don't like to eat
them, but they taste good if eaten together with a piece of beef and
a couple of peppers ;-)mmmmmmmmmmmm.
-----
But, the recipes sent to the list by Colonel Philpott do have their
own special place in the "Chile-Heads" folder on my hard drive...
Rich
--
"Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations--entangling
alliances with none..." --Thomas Jefferson
Rich McCormack (Poway, CA) macknet@pacbell.net
Who is Rich McCormack? Find out at...
http://home.pacbell.net/macknet/