You Gotta Brine The Swine!

Cooking Tip: The chef's secret to making succulent, juicy & extremely flavorful poultry or meat every damn time!

A little over a year ago when I began cooking larger cuts of meat, mostly in the pork realm (also works for poultry)...I found that a simple brine is hands down the way to go. I am very fortunate to play music with a few local chefs and always pick their brains about what changes they are making to the menu between season, what new techniques they are trying and all that jazz. When I asked about prep, 99% of the time it comes down to the brine. Now let me drop some science on y'all, during the cooking process meat typically loses about 15% of it's natural juices, with brining we flip that number upside down and add a few more keeping your meat from drying out. The basic rule is a cup of salt & cup of sugar to every gallon of water, feel free to try adding your own spices/herbs to make a brine your own...but sometimes less is more when cooking larger cuts of meat for longer periods of time.

Here is my pork brine that I use for shoulders & chops, only difference is chops only need 1 night...while shoulders between 2-3 days

Swine Brine

• 1 gallon of water
• 1 cup of salt
• 1 cup of sugar (or molasses)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 handful of peppercorns

*  Feeling Fancy Add Onion, Garlic, Rosemary, Apple Cider, Ground Mustard, Orange Peels, Lemon Grass

Poolside /// Slow Down

It's not every day you find a band that portrays the exact vision or feeling they are emphasizing to the listener by name & genre, but 'Poolside' has done a brilliant job in doing so. Earlier this year I stumbled across their debut LP, 'Pacific Standard Time' and halfway through the second track, I had already ordered the album online (Yes it's that fucking good). Poolside is a Los Angeles based duo who refers to their music as "Daytime Disco". If you don't believe me check out this live version of "Slow Down", hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

For more info on the band...you can check them out here: Poolside Official Site

"I feel the same way about disco as I do about herpes" - HST

Tampa Black Beans

Ingredients

• 1 can of black beans (Goya)
• 2 strips of bacon
• 1 small onion
• 8 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp of Balsamic
• 1/2 packet of Sazon spices
• 1 tsp of Parsley
• 1 tsp of Pepper
• 1 bay leaf

Directions

1. Cut up the bacon into 1/2 inch slices, chop the onion & garlic
2. In a saucepan on medium heat add bacon, onion, garlic & saute for 5 mins
3. Add the remaining ingredients & cook for 30 mins

"With all the pork that we cook, it was only necessary that we have a proper Black Bean recipe. Most folks just warm up the beans & serve, this is a no no! This recipe is super simple and takes only a few minutes to prep while you work on your main dish. Having both grown up in cities w/ strong Latin roots (Puerto Rico & Tampa), we eat rice & beans w/ almost everything...so yeah, here is a kick ass recipe that gives your black beans that extra umph."

Arroz con Chorizo y Camarones

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil 
• 3 Colombian chorizos, sliced 
• 1 spanish onion 
• 1 red onion, diced 
• 1 yellow onion, diced 
• 4 garlic cloves, minced 
• 2 tomatoes, chopped fine 
• 1 scallion, chopped fine 
• 2 cups pearl rice 
• 4 1/2 cups chicken stock 
• 1 teaspoon sazon goya 
• 1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 handful of cilantro 
• 1 tablespoon of cayenne salt & pepper

Directions

1. In a large pot sauté the chorizo in oil for 7 minutes or until brown, remove and set aside to rest. 
2. Add the garlic, onions, peppers, tomatoes & scallion to the pot and cook for 10 minutes or till translucent. 3. Add the rice and stir to coat for 2 minutes. 
4. Add the chicken stock, stir while bringing to a boil. Add the chorizo & sazon. Reduce the heat to low, cook & cover for 15 minutes. 
5. Add the shrimp, cook for another 15 minutes. 
6. Turn off the heat and fluff the rice w/ a fork. Add the fresh cilantro and stir. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes then serve with a lime. 

WATCH: Big Boi & Little Dragon "Mama Told Me"

Earlier this week, Big Boi made a surprise appearance with Swedish electronic group Little Dragon, premiering "Mama Told Me" for a Vitamin Water Uncapped Show in Austin, TX. "Mama Told Me" will be one of the tracks off the upcoming Big Boi album "Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors" which drops on November 13th. Reminiscent of last year on SBTRK's "Wildfire", Yukimi delivers another great hook for Atlanta royalty...peep the vid below.

Flying Lotus /// Btwn Friends

He did it again...Steven Ellison aka Flying Lotus (Brainfeeder) has started dropping some of the new shit that will be a part of his fourth full length LP, "Untill the Quiet Comes" due to drop October 2, 2012. This track was a part of the Adult Swim Single Series and features Thundercat, Earl Sweatshirt & Captain Murphy. Reportedly FlyLo has started to dig hip-hop again, which is pretty awesome news.