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Jus de Fruit
Jus de Fruit
This is the first recipe from the Central African country of Chad! Jus de fruit is simply a blended fruit drink with whole milk, sugar, ice, cardamom, and nutmeg. This drink is typically sold at roadside stands. Common fruits used in making this refreshing drink include, pineapple, mango, oranges, papaya, and guava.
Servings: 2
Equipment
- blender
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups pineapple or mango, orange, papaya, guava
- 2 cups whole milk
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup ice
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients into a blender.
- Blend until smooth.
Oak Smoked Boneless Leg of Lamb
Oak Smoked Boneless Leg of Lamb
This is the first time I’ve ever smoked a leg of lamb. Let me tell you, it may be the best leg of lamb I’ve ever eaten. It was brined, then stuffed with an herb mix of mint, parsley, shallots, and garlic. I used oak wood chips for smoking (oak adds a great flavor to lamb). The lamb gets slow smoked at 200 degrees until it reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees.
Equipment
- food processor
- Butchers Twine
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
Brine
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup sea salt
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1/2 cup shallots sliced
- 6 garlic cloves crushed
Leg of Lamb
- 4 lbs boneless leg of lamb
- 1 bunch mint
- 1 bunch parsley
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup shallots
- 2 bay leaves
Wood Chips
- oak
Instructions
- Mix together the brining ingredients.
- Brine the leg of lamb in a gallon sized storage bag for 24 hours.
- Remove the leg from the brine and allow to dry on a rack in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
- Pulse the stuffing ingredients in a food processor a couple of times until everything is evenly chopped.
- Stuff the inside of the lamb with the herb filling.
- Tie up the leg of lamb with butchers twine.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Place in your leg of lamb. Allow the chips to ignite for 10 minutes. Turn down the heat to 200 degrees.
- Smoke leg for 5-6 hours until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees with a probe thermometer. The wood chip will need to be changed out every 90 minutes.
- Allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
Hmong-Style Roasted Fish in Banana Leaves
Hmong-Style Roasted Fish in Banana Leaves
Usually when you see a recipe for a stuffed fish, you’ll see 3 slits cut into the flesh of the fish on both sides, then stuffed. This is completely different and quite a genius way to stuff a fish. Pockets are cut across entire spine of both sides of the fish so the herb stuffing flavors the entire fish’s flesh. After the fish is stuffed, it is wrapped in a banana leaf and foil, kind of like a papillote, then baked. You can also through this on a grill and cook for the same amount of time. You can use pretty much any type of whole fish. I used a whole tilapia, but snapper, porgy, or pompano are all suitable for this dish.
Equipment
- banana leaves
- foil
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 whole tilapia (or any other whole fish) scaled, cleaned, and gutted
Herb Stuffing
- 2 tbsp lime leaves chopped
- 2 stalks lemongrass chopped
- 2 Thai chilies chopped
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 3/4 cup fresh dill chopped
- 3/4 cup cilantro chopped
- 3/4 cup green onions chopped
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1/2 tsp mushroom seasoning
Instructions
- Place all of the stuffing ingredients in a food processor.
- Pulse a few times until everything is evenly chopped.
- Cut deep pockets across both sides of the fish’s spine.
- Stuff each of the pockets with the herb stuffing, saving a 1/4 cup of the stuffing.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line the bottom of a baking sheet with foil. Lay the banana leave across the top.
- Place the fish in the center of the banana leaf. Cover the fish with the rest of the herb stuffing.
- Fold the banana leaf over the fish, tucking in the sides to seal.
- Cover with more foil, making sure all of the seams are sealed.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Take off the foil and the banana leaf.
- Bake for another 15 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
