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Episode 81

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Published on:

26th May 2025

WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: We're making Cowboy Candy!

Cowboy candy: sweet, spicy jalapeño rings. They're a part of Mark's childhood. We're headed to the kitchen to make a small batch without any need of a steam- or pressure-canner.

This recipe comes from our book, COLD CANNING. It's all about making small batches of preserved, pickled, or fermented things for the fridge or freezer without the need of the pressure- or steam-canner. If you'd like a copy of the book, please click this link.

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of more than three dozen cookbooks. This podcast is about our passion: food and cooking. We're so glad you're with us!

If you'd like this recipe, please find it on our website, bruceandmark.com.

Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:

[00:30] Our one-minute cooking tip: add fat to lean meat for better, grilled burgers.

[02:47] We’re making cowboy candy!

[21:19] What’s making us happy in food this week: Thai massaman curry and raisinets!

Transcript
Bruce:

Hey, I am Bruce Weinstein and this is the Podcast

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Cooking with Bruce and Mark.

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Mark: And I'm Mark S Scrubber.

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And together with Bruce, we have

written three dozen cookbooks.

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We're publishing our 37th cookbook.

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Well, about to publish it, cold canning.

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We're actually gonna be talking about

that cookbook because we're going to be

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making a recipe from it, something right.

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Out of my childhood, something

I love more than I can say.

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We've also got a one minute cooking

tip and we'll tell you what's

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making us happy in food this week.

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So let's get started.

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Bruce: Our one minute cooking tip.

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It's all about how to have the best,

the juiciest burgers off the grill ever.

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Okay.

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Make sure there's enough fat in your meat.

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Yeah.

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Normally that should be 20%.

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If you want to have a good juicy burger,

20%, and that's usually ground, chuck.

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But when you go to the supermarket,

packages are always labeled

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80% lean, 90% lean, 95% lean.

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And yeah, if you're trying to

watch your fat intake for health

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reasons, you can go leaner, but

your burgers are gonna be drier.

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So you want to go 20% fat?

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Mark: Yeah.

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Well, let's just say, let's just back up

and say that we were raised in a time in

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which this was all forbidden knowledge.

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Mm.

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Right?

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Mm-hmm.

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We came up in the days we're old

enough to come up in the days when

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it was as lean as possible, as

much as possible you wanted to eat.

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Boneless skinless chicken breasts and the

completely fat, gotten rid of ground beef

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and all that kind of stuff, so, oh yeah.

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Bruce: Our grandparents used

margarine instead of butter.

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I mean, they thought

that was being healthy.

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Mark: Okay.

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Yeah, that's true.

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But I just In terms of the proteins,

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Bruce: yeah, the people

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Mark: wanted leaner, leaner, leaner.

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They did.

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And there are still reasons why

people need to be on super lean diets.

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Bruce: There are.

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But if you've been eating Turkey burgers,

just because it's kind of what you've

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always done and you're tired of them being

dry and you don't have a fat limitation

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in your diet, consider adding more fat to

your ground Turkey or your ground chicken,

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or your lean ground beef up to 20% worth.

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And you can use bacon fat,

you can use chicken fat.

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You can even mix some olive oil

into your ground, lean ground beef,

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and that'll give you a juicier.

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Burger off the grill.

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Mark: Okay, so fat's not your enemy.

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Mm-hmm.

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Necessarily unless you've been

restricted by a doctor, but it does

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lead to better tasting burgers.

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Mm-hmm.

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That's for sure.

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Mm-hmm.

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Okay.

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Before we get to the next segment of our.

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Podcasts, which are actually

gonna go to the kitchen and

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be cooking through a recipe.

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Haven't done that in a while.

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I know.

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Let's just say that it'd be great

if you could subscribe to this

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podcast and if you could rate

it, if you can give it a rating.

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Can I ask for a five stars?

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A five star rating?

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And if you can write a review that is.

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Spectacular.

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We are an otherwise unsupported

podcast and we appreciate this

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way that you can support us.

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Okay, we're off to the kitchen

because we're gonna make something

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straight out of my upbringing.

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Straight outta my childhood.

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I don't know what to say.

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We're gonna make cowboy candy.

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Bruce: Mark said, we're making

cowboy candy, also known

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as sweet pickled jalapenos.

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Yeah, and

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Mark: I have to tell you that we did not

call it cowboy candy when I was a kid.

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I know that is the current phrase for it.

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We called it bread and butter jalapenos.

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No, we did not refer to

this as cowboy candy.

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If you don't know what this

is, this is aru a sweetened.

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Pickled jalapeno.

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This is a recipe out of our book,

cold Kenning that we're gonna make

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on the air here, and it's a really

actually easy recipe with one huge

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problem, and that's the fresh jalapeno.

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So we'll get to

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Bruce: that.

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Okay, so basically we are gonna be

making a simple syrup using vinegar.

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Instead of water for our sugar.

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So it's gonna be a sugar vinegar, syrup.

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It's got some salt, and we're

gonna cook those jalapenos in it.

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So Mark said it's difficult.

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Sometimes it is.

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We went to the supermarket

yesterday to get groceries for

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this, and they had no jalapenos.

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Okay, now

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Mark: again, let me just

say that we live in.

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Super rural New England.

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So jalapenos are not gonna be everywhere.

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If you live in Texas, if you live

in Oklahoma, if you live in New

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Mexico, they're gonna be everywhere.

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But in, in rural New England, um, finding

fresh jalapenos can be a challenge.

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We did find them at a second supermarket,

we did, but it can be a challenge.

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And also working with them is a challenge.

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So let me just also say before

we get into this recipe.

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Further, you need to snap

on some kitchen gloves.

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Like those surgical gloves.

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Uh, you can use rubber gloves

that you clean with, but make sure

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you haven't cleaned with them.

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But you need to cover your hands in

some way because, uh, jalapenos are hot.

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Bruce: They are, and

they're hot from capsaicin.

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You've heard us talk about this before,

and capsaicin is fat soluble, right?

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So when you get it on your hands,

when you cut those chilies and you

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get that chemical on your hands, it.

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Does not wash off with soap and water to

get it off, you need to rub your hands

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with oil, then soap and water, and then

the capase will come off or just put

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those gloves on like Mark said, and you're

not gonna have any of these problems at

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Mark: all.

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Exactly.

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Just remember that, uh, again,

like Bruce says, it's, it's a fat

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soluble and that counts too when

you eat something terribly hot.

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Iced tea and beer and coke

and all that will do nothing.

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For the burn in your mouth.

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Mm-hmm.

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What will do it is a milkshake eat.

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Yeah.

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Or eat a slab of butter or take a

big spoonful of full fat sour cream.

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This will, or

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Bruce: castor oil.

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Oh

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Mark: my gosh.

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Uh, this will absolutely

drop down the heat content.

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Mm-hmm.

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So what we're gonna do is we're gonna

start with this, uh, simple syrup.

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And just to say, cold canning

is a book about canning without

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steam or pressure canning.

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So we're not gonna ever

process these jars.

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Nope.

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We're gonna make them so that they can go.

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In the fridge or the freezer.

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And what kind of jars do we have here?

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Bruce: These are just regular ball

canning jars, but I have not boiled them.

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I have not sterilized them.

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I have, what I have done is given

them a really good solid washing

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in the sink and hot water that's.

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All I need, I do not need to sterilize

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Mark: them.

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Right.

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'cause we are not canning

enough for the apocalypse.

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No, we are absolutely just doing a

few jars full so that we can either

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put it in the fridge from a month

to six weeks, or we can put it in

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the freezer basically indefinitely.

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So I'm gonna start, and

I'm gonna pour into this.

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We got a large sauce band here.

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Bruce: Mm-hmm.

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Mark: I put it over medium heat

and I'm gonna add three cups or 600

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grams of granulated white sugar.

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Can you cut down on the sugar?

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No.

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You cannot, sorry.

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This is preserving and sugar,

whether you know this or not,

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is in fact a preservative.

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Absolutely.

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It is also a bacterial agent,

but in high enough quantities.

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It's a preservative.

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Yeah.

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In

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Bruce: high enough quantities, it's

antibacterial, so there you go.

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It's really strange, isn't it?

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Yeah,

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Mark: it is.

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Sorry, how it works.

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So you can't cut down.

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You need to use three cups or 600

grams of granulated white sugar.

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If you're listening to this in

another country outside of the

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us, you can use castor sugar and

other forms of white baking sugar.

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Just make sure you use the

set weight amount, 600 grams

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and I'm gonna pour in here.

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Two cups or 480 milliliters.

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You can budget and say 500 milliliters

of distilled white vinegar.

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Why not?

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I mean, plain old white vinegar.

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Come on.

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What's 20 milliliters between friends?

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Nothing So, so three cups of sugar and

two cups of distilled white vinegar

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Bruce: and a teaspoon of salt.

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Yeah.

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We're using kosher salt and we're stirring

this until the sugar dissolves and we

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want this mixture to come to a boil.

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This is going to be our.

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Simple syrup with vinegar

instead of water that we are

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going to cook the jalapenos in.

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But we're not gonna cook them whole.

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We are gonna slice 'em up.

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Mark: Right.

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Okay.

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So wait while I stand here with this?

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Mm-hmm.

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And occasionally stir it.

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What are you doing?

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Bruce: So I have my little

handheld mandolin here, and

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I could do this with a knife.

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You can cut all these chilies.

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I have one pound, seven ounces.

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Of fresh jalapenos,

that's 650 grams of them.

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Oh, there's a lot here.

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There's like over 25 chilies here.

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There may even be more than

that, depending on the size of

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your chilies, you may have more.

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You may have fewer.

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You wanna slice in about a quarter

inch slices, and I find it's just

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so much easier to use a mandolin.

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I could just keep going

without any stopping.

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And they're perfectly sized, but

you have to get yourself one of

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those cut proof kitchen knives.

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'cause the guards are really too

small to deal with a jalapeno.

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Mark: All right.

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All right.

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I stop and say, of course, as

you're doing this on the mandolin,

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seeds are flying everywhere.

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And if you probably know, the seeds

are where the hot stuff is kept.

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Say it's actually formed in the membrane

that attaches the seed to the fruit,

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to the chili, the placenta, right.

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And.

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As that membrane is caught, it

sprays its defense mechanism,

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capase, and the hot stuff onto the

seeds so that mammals like you and

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I don't grind them with our molars.

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Do you know that birds can eat these

seeds and they have no effect on birds?

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In fact, birds actually like these seeds

and can spread them far and white, so.

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Here's the thing.

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If you are concerned about this

being too hot, just don't collect

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all the seeds flying around.

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Let them go ahead and fly around and

clean them up and throw them away.

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In other words, get rid of some of the

seeds and it won't be quite as hot.

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It'll still be hot, trust me.

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Mm-hmm.

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But it won't be quite as hot as if

you just throw every single seed.

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And Bruce didn't add this, because I'm the

writer and I have to tell you this, but

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these jalapeno chilies were all stemmed.

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So the stems are.

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Off of them.

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You know, you can leave the stem on

if it's easier to hold it, to cut it.

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Mm-hmm.

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But eventually you're

gonna throw that stem into

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Bruce: it.

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Yeah.

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I hold the stem and I run them over

the mandolin using my cut proof gloves.

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And as I get down to the stem, then I

just toss that stem in the sink and I'm,

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I'm getting through these pretty quickly.

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Now, here's the thing about jalapenos.

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When you buy.

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Pickled jalapenos in the supermarket?

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Not the sweet ones.

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The standard ones?

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Yeah, standard.

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Some of them are called tamed,

means they're using a variety of

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jalapenos that aren't as spicy.

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I wish at the supermarket they would

sell hot jalapenos and tamed jalapenos.

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They don't do that though.

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No, they only, you never really

know what you're gonna get.

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'cause sometimes you buy

them and they're so hot.

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That's it.

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And sometimes you buy

them and they're not.

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So hard.

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Well,

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Mark: and we've discovered, at least

this is what we have discovered, is

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when we grow jalapenos on the deck.

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It's too early in the year for us

to have any yet, but in New England.

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But when we grow them in pots on the

deck, they get hotter as the year goes on.

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So as the summer grows on, the

first ones are hot, but not

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killer by the end of the summer.

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The ones that come off the plants

are just absolutely ridiculous.

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I guess the plant has decided it's

gonna save itself as winter approaches

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or something, and it's so hot.

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It's.

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Uh, those are just unbelievable.

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And Bruce is right.

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You never know exactly

what you're gonna get.

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But don't forget, you are gonna add a

lot of sugar and you're gonna add, uh,

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we've added a fair amount of vinegar.

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And let me also say that

we're done with all of this.

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We are gonna put it in the

fridge, in the freezer, and both

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actually are destructive to capa.

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Mm-hmm.

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So both will actually cut down on

the final heat of what you have.

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Bruce: Have you ever noticed that?

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Often the next morning, your

leftover Chinese food is not as

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spicy as it was the day before.

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Right?

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And that's because the capsaicin

really starts to degrade.

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So Marx's syrup is boiling, and I'm

done with these chilies, and I am

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going to slide them from my cutting

board and scrape them right into

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that pot, and I'm gonna stir them.

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Into this boiling syrup.

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It of course, stops boiling as

soon as you put the chilies in it.

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And I'm gonna bring it back to a

boil and I'm gonna cook them stirring

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a little bit for five and minutes.

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Reduce the

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Mark: right you're gonna, when

it comes back up to a boil,

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you gonna pull the heat down,

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Bruce: then I'll turn

it back down to medium.

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And I just want it to be at a really fast

simmer, light boil for about five minutes.

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It's gonna change from that.

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Bright, bright green to

a dough, olive, green.

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Okay.

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So, and that's how you know they're done.

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Mark: Lemme say something that, uh,

it came up, it occurred to me as

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you were saying this, as you were

dumping the chilies in, and you were

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talking about leftover Chinese food.

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Mm-hmm.

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And it's not as hot the next day.

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I, some people on the table, there's

no jalapenos in my, my Chinese food.

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The stuff that burns you in Chili's.

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Is capsaicin.

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It doesn't matter what chili it

comes from, you know from jalapenos,

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it can come from Anaheim's.

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It can come from T Red Hots.

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Mm-hmm.

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No matter what chili you use,

the stuff that's burning your

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mouth is the chemical capsaicin.

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Mm-hmm.

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Found in the membranes.

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That protects the season.

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It's just like, uh, what do I say?

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It's just like getting drunk.

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What gets you drunk is ethanol.

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It doesn't matter if it

comes in beer or in vodka.

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It's ethanol that, right.

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That's the stuff that gets you drunk.

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Yeah.

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Is ethanol, and ethanol is

ethanol across all of those.

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Beverages.

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It's just a question of how much ethanol.

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Bruce: Some beverages have a

lot of ethanol, lot like vodka

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and barrel strength, bourbon.

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Oh my gosh.

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And some have less like

beer and hard cider.

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Mark: Right.

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And it's the same with ke n.

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It, it is the chemical across the

board that produces the mouth burn.

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Bruce: Interesting.

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So like, like jalapenos are kind of

like having vodka and scotch bonnets

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are like cast strength bourbon.

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Oh, oh yeah.

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And green bell peppers are

like having, I don't know, not

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Mark: like a, like one of those mocktails.

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Yeah.

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Maybe sometimes at farmer's

markets you can find.

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Bell peppers that are slightly

spicy, and I mean, barely spicy,

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but like a one on the scale.

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But you can find them at farmer's

markets particularly late in the summer.

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But that is really rare.

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I mean, they're really so

sweet, especially by the

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time they get up to the red.

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You know, the, the color of the

jalapenos and the color of bell peppers

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is a function of how long they stay.

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Down the vine, it's

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Bruce: green and then they get red.

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Right.

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And some going to orange after that.

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So you, you know, it, the longer

it stays, also the hotter it gets.

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Right?

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It can, and, and that scale Mark talked

about, that's the scoville scale.

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That is the units of capsaicin heat.

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In your chilies, the higher

that scoville number, the hotter

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your chilies, I gotta say,

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Mark: um, you gotta turn the fan on.

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Uh, yeah.

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This is getting, uh, it's getting,

I'm having a hard time actually

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talking, getting a little mucus.

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See this?

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I know.

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And you can probably hear us both Fleming

up because of course the problem is

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that Capin is getting volatilized in

this boiling cauldron in the sauce, man.

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And so you probably need to have a

vent on it would, even if you have

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an outdoor grill, it would be okay

to do this outside in the grill and.

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Summer.

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Mm-hmm.

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So that you keep it to a boil out

there because this stuff can get really

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up in your nose and in your eyes.

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And we've also discovered that, um, of

course other mammals are furry friends.

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Like dogs are affected by this.

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They are.

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So if you're gonna make something

like this, you might consider putting

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your dog or cat out of the room

because they are affected by this.

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The same way we're

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Bruce: Yeah.

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We always get the dog outta here

because, uh, I don't want him

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burning his eyes or his throat.

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And these are smelling so good.

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They're almost done.

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You know what, this is making me crave a.

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Burger.

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We talked about burgers and

the one minute cooking tip.

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This is one of my favorite

toppings for hamburgers.

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I love to pile on these spicy

sweet jalapenos and dollop

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on sweet pickle relish.

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That combination is so

to die for on a burger.

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Mark: And let me also say that this cowboy

candy is really good on creamy cheese.

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Like, uh, Brie, if you paid out some

brie and crackers and to have some

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of these sweet hot jalapeno rings to

go on it, we also find it's really.

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Good with Whitefish Salad.

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If you're from New York City,

you know what that means?

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Whitefish salad.

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Bruce: Any fish.

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It's good with locks.

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It's good with, mm-hmm.

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It's smoked salmon.

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Yum.

415

:

Mark: Smoked salmon salad.

416

:

Good in a

417

:

Bruce: lobster salad.

418

:

Mark: Yes.

419

:

Uh, the smoked stuff tends to

work a little better because it's

420

:

more assertive than fresh seafood.

421

:

So whitefish salad is made from

smoked white fish and that tends

422

:

to work a little better with this.

423

:

These are also great on hot dogs.

424

:

They're good served alongside

broads off the grill.

425

:

I particularly like

them to be honest with.

426

:

Few with pork chops off the

grill once you grill them.

427

:

And then you just put a few on top of your

pork chops and maybe some of the brine.

428

:

And don't forget to save this brine.

429

:

Um, we're gonna actually lay these

things into the jars in just a second.

430

:

Mm-hmm.

431

:

And you're gonna see, well

see, no, this is a pet nose.

432

:

Okay.

433

:

You're going to hear, baby, that there's

a lot of liquid going into these jars,

434

:

Bruce: syrup, hot syrup.

435

:

Mark: Right?

436

:

When you're all done with this, you

don't have to throw out that syrup.

437

:

You can strain it, so any extraneous

seeds and bits get out of it, and then

438

:

you can put it back in the fridge for.

439

:

Hmm a while longer, a month more.

440

:

And you can use that sweet

syrup the same way you would use

441

:

simple syrup in any cocktails.

442

:

Bruce: One of my favorite ways

to use this one is in margaritas.

443

:

So you have a spicy margarita.

444

:

So you put a little, that jalapeno

simple syrup with your tequila,

445

:

your homemade triple sect.

446

:

Which recipe is also available in

cold canning and some fresh lime

447

:

juice, and that would be maybe.

448

:

The best margarita you'll have ever had.

449

:

And these are looking dull olive green.

450

:

They smell fabulous.

451

:

I'm gonna turn this off and I'm gonna

bring this over to the sink because I

452

:

do not want to do this on the stove.

453

:

And I have a spoon, a straining spoon.

454

:

Mark: Thank you.

455

:

Thank you, mother.

456

:

Thank you.

457

:

My mother.

458

:

Bruce: Your mother always cooks.

459

:

My

460

:

Mark: mother had this rule

that you cook in the sink.

461

:

Well, you don't cook right?

462

:

You do everything in the sink.

463

:

You make dough in the sink.

464

:

You make it.

465

:

In the sink, because that way

if you spill anything, you can

466

:

just wash it down the drain.

467

:

You pull the bowl up and

wash it down the drain.

468

:

Mm-hmm.

469

:

And you're done.

470

:

Bruce: Makes kind of sense.

471

:

So I have a straining spoon and I'm just

spooning up these jalapenos out of the

472

:

syrup and I'm dropping them into the jar.

473

:

I do have a canning.

474

:

Funnel on top of the jar, which

makes it easier to get them in there.

475

:

And when I get this jar filled up, then

I will pour the syrup on top of them.

476

:

I just wanna make sure that they

are totally submerged in a syrup.

477

:

Mark: Right.

478

:

So the key here, and this is the key

to canning something like this and

479

:

keeping it in the fridge, not so much

the freezer, but in the fridge, is

480

:

that you want it to be submerged.

481

:

Mm-hmm.

482

:

You want the fresh vegetables,

or in this case, the barely

483

:

cooked vegetables or fruits.

484

:

Okay?

485

:

Don't kill me.

486

:

A chilies, a fruit.

487

:

But fruit to be submerged in the brine.

488

:

There's an old canning outage that

if it's in the brine, it's fine.

489

:

Mm-hmm.

490

:

If it's out, throw it out.

491

:

That kind of is the truth here.

492

:

We wanna make sure all the rings

are submerged in this brine.

493

:

Yep.

494

:

In this, it's not brine in

this sugar store, in the sugar.

495

:

Bruce: You know what else

would be so good in this?

496

:

Chunked up pineapple.

497

:

If I put some pineapple in

that syrup while these were

498

:

cooking for the last minute,

499

:

Mark: I don't approve.

500

:

Bruce: That would

501

:

Mark: be

502

:

Bruce: really

503

:

Mark: good.

504

:

This Texas boy doesn't

approve this Texas boy.

505

:

Just can't deal with it.

506

:

No.

507

:

If you live

508

:

Bruce: in New England, no.

509

:

Mark: Yeah, no.

510

:

Still?

511

:

Yeah.

512

:

No.

513

:

My favorite construction of all time.

514

:

Yeah.

515

:

No.

516

:

Yeah.

517

:

No.

518

:

Bruce: Well, yeah.

519

:

No, yeah, no.

520

:

These two jars are full and I'm

pouring the syrup over the top.

521

:

I want to make sure that it goes.

522

:

All the way over, up to the top and

covers them, and I'm gonna cover the jars.

523

:

I'm gonna let them sit at room

temp and cool an hour before

524

:

I put them in the fridge.

525

:

Never put anything boiling hot

in your fridge or your freezer.

526

:

Why?

527

:

Why?

528

:

Because you are gonna make

your refrigerator work so hard.

529

:

There you go.

530

:

To chill it down, you're

gonna waste energy.

531

:

You're gonna melt and thaw

things that are next to it.

532

:

Mark: If you use great canning

jars, like wet canning jars or

533

:

ball can jars, you're, they're not.

534

:

Most likely gonna crack No.

535

:

In the fri freezer, they may crack

in the freezer, especially if

536

:

they're several years old and you've

used them multiple times, but most

537

:

likely they're not gonna crack.

538

:

It's the problem of making your

freezer work so hard mm-hmm.

539

:

To pull that thing down from boiling hot.

540

:

We're way above the boiling point

of water here with this sugar.

541

:

Yep.

542

:

So it, it, it, it would have to work

very hard to get it all pulled down.

543

:

So especially leave this out

on the counter and again.

544

:

You're gonna store these in the

fridge for a month and the freezer

545

:

indefinitely sealed up, put the lid

on it, make sure they're sealed.

546

:

And I have to tell you, they

actually get better as they sit.

547

:

Bruce: They do.

548

:

Again, some of the heat gets

tamed so they're not quite as hot.

549

:

And in a couple of weeks these will be.

550

:

The most amazing burger topping

or hotdog topping or, or Turkey

551

:

club topping you have ever had

552

:

Mark: or, or if you live in the south

and if you live anywhere near where?

553

:

I grew up in Texas, the

best brisket pulled pork.

554

:

Mm-hmm.

555

:

The best smoked meat,

smoked sausages, all that.

556

:

These are.

557

:

Perfect to go with anything like that.

558

:

They're unbelievable.

559

:

With barbecued brisket.

560

:

With smoked brisket, that's

exactly how they should be served.

561

:

And in fact, whether you know

it or not, that's probably

562

:

how we're gonna serve them.

563

:

Mm-hmm.

564

:

Because Bruce is making a smoked brisket

in the days ahead, so you getting made.

565

:

So we can have them with

brisket outta the smoker.

566

:

Okay.

567

:

That's the recipe for this.

568

:

Easy small batch version of Cowboy Candy.

569

:

We did it real time.

570

:

Bruce: This was it.

571

:

You, you heard how quickly

it is to make this right.

572

:

Right.

573

:

This was not a whole lot of trouble.

574

:

Mark: Right.

575

:

And you can find this recipe on

our website, Bruce and mark.com

576

:

or cooking with.

577

:

Bruce and mark.com.

578

:

You can find it there in two places,

either the entry for this podcast

579

:

on our website, and there's also

a dropdown menu of recipes on our

580

:

website, and you can find it there.

581

:

You can go all the way out there and look

it up and find the recipe for yourself and

582

:

make your own small batch of cowboy candy.

583

:

Okay, up next, what's making

us happy in food this week?

584

:

So I.

585

:

Ask for something that's in the vein of

cowboy candy, and that is Mosman Curry.

586

:

Bruce: How is that in

the vein of cowboy candy?

587

:

Well, because it's

588

:

Mark: sweet and it's hot,

except it's also very sour.

589

:

Mm-hmm.

590

:

If you don't know, it's a.

591

:

Kind of curry from Southeast Asia.

592

:

It's probably derived Maman from Muslim.

593

:

It's probably, or hamadan.

594

:

It's probably some sort of cross

pollinated recipe out of Arabic

595

:

or Islamic traditions that finds

its way into Southeast Asian

596

:

cooking and it all gets read up.

597

:

There with Southeast Asian techniques

and I ask for it because, uh, in New

598

:

England here, it's been freezing.

599

:

I know it's the end of May.

600

:

We're coming into Memorial Day,

but we have literally gone down

601

:

into the upper thirties at night.

602

:

It has been raining like

crazy and it's cold.

603

:

We have got the heat on in our

house, if you can believe it.

604

:

'cause I just couldn't stand it anymore.

605

:

I had to turn the heat back on again

and I said, can we have please, oh.

606

:

Warm dinner.

607

:

And so I asked for Mossman

Curry and I got it.

608

:

What's in it?

609

:

Well explain

610

:

Bruce: what that is.

611

:

Of course.

612

:

So that's a coconut milk based curry,

613

:

Mark: right.

614

:

Bruce: And it's coconut milk,

and it's a red Thai curry paste.

615

:

It is a mossman curry paste.

616

:

You can use just red Thai curry

paste if you can't find the

617

:

traditional masa on curry paste.

618

:

But you might wanna then.

619

:

Spike it up with a little more ginger

and maybe even a cinnamon stick

620

:

because it tends to have, mosman tends

to have those aromatics in there.

621

:

I use boneless skinless chicken thighs.

622

:

Mark: Oh yeah, I did

ask for chicken asman.

623

:

Yeah, it,

624

:

Bruce: it could be with beef,

but I'd made it with chicken.

625

:

And what is very traditional is potatoes.

626

:

Yep.

627

:

So I.

628

:

Cooked the chicken in that

curry paste with coconut milk

629

:

and tamarind for sourness and a

little fish sauce and palm sugar.

630

:

And then after an hour I threw in

potatoes and fresh onions and peanuts.

631

:

Yep.

632

:

Let that go.

633

:

About another hour.

634

:

That's always got

635

:

Mark: peanuts in it.

636

:

Yep.

637

:

Bruce: Right before I

served it, I put in a.

638

:

Giant bowl full of Thai basil

leaves and I stirred those in.

639

:

Mm-hmm.

640

:

That truly was an amazing

641

:

Mark: dinner.

642

:

Didn't even need rice,

didn't need nothing.

643

:

Mm-hmm.

644

:

We just ate it straight in the

balls and tried to keep warm.

645

:

Mm-hmm.

646

:

In the New England chill of early summer.

647

:

Okay.

648

:

That's what's making me

happy in food this week.

649

:

What's

650

:

Bruce: making me happy was what I had.

651

:

After dinner watching tv, we're

watching the show, the Pit.

652

:

Oh my gosh.

653

:

On HBO

654

:

Mark: I'm utterly obsessed with the pit.

655

:

It's utterly obsessed.

656

:

It's that medical

657

:

Bruce: er show.

658

:

It's, I can't It Go in the

er and each episode is one

659

:

hour of their 15 hour shift.

660

:

Mark: I truly believe it's a

documentary and I was saying

661

:

the to Bruce the other night.

662

:

I hope they just keep going for the

next three months and it never ends.

663

:

'cause I am.

664

:

Absolutely obsessed with the show.

665

:

If you don't know, it's as Bruce

says about the er, but it's about

666

:

the doctors, not about the patients.

667

:

Yep.

668

:

So in traditional, like Chad

Everett Medical Center dramas,

669

:

it's always about the patients

who come in and their stories.

670

:

This is real.

671

:

The patients are ancillary to the doctors.

672

:

The doctors and the nurses

are the focus of the series.

673

:

It's fantastic.

674

:

And

675

:

Bruce: unlike Grey's Anatomy, where they

dumb down the medicine and dumb down the

676

:

science, they don't dumb it down in this.

677

:

No, they, they rattle off.

678

:

Those abbreviations and those

letters and those things.

679

:

And if you don't know what it

is, you gotta look it up fast

680

:

because it goes right past you.

681

:

We got

682

:

Mark: 175 pound man tacky with BP

of uh, I'm like, oh my God, what?

683

:

Tacky what?

684

:

Hang

685

:

Bruce: two lr.

686

:

There you go.

687

:

Right, exactly.

688

:

Tape ringer, which is the saline solution.

689

:

Okay, so we were watching the

show and I was craving something

690

:

sweet and I was actually craving.

691

:

Raisinettes, which like I love

chocolate and raisins and we didn't

692

:

have any in the house of course, but

I did have a bar of 60% Ghirardelli

693

:

and I had a box of raisins.

694

:

So therefore, if I just put them in a

bowl and eat them at the same time, I

695

:

made my own raisinettes in my mouth.

696

:

God crazy.

697

:

And that's what I had.

698

:

Mark: Raisinettes are the Halloween candy

that I threw back at them if I got it.

699

:

Gross raisins and chocolate.

700

:

Well, the gross

701

:

Bruce: part about raisinettes

are those with milk chocolate.

702

:

I like it with good dark chocolate.

703

:

It doesn't

704

:

Mark: matter.

705

:

Bruce: Raisins, it's, it's like, what?

706

:

What?

707

:

No, I didn't like the boxes of raisins

when you went trick or treating,

708

:

Mark: but I like raisinettes.

709

:

I, no, it's the, my just boxes of

raisins with chocolate port over them.

710

:

So no bros.

711

:

Ugh.

712

:

Raisin as maman curry is better.

713

:

Okay.

714

:

That's.

715

:

The podcast episode for this week.

716

:

Thanks for being a part of this journey.

717

:

Thanks for, uh, listening

to us make Cowboy Candy.

718

:

I hope that you will consider making

it in your home for this summer.

719

:

We appreciate your support and being

with us every week, and we're glad

720

:

you're here with us on this journey.

721

:

Bruce: And every week we tell you

what's making us happy in food.

722

:

So go to our Facebook group, cooking with

Bruce and Mark and tell us there what's

723

:

making you happy in food this week?

724

:

'cause we want to know.

725

:

What's happening in your kitchen, on

your plate, in your life when it comes

726

:

to food here at Kme, Bruce and Martin.

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About the Podcast

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
Fantastic recipes, culinary science, a little judgment, hysterical banter, love and laughs--you know, life.
Join us, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, for weekly episodes all about food, cooking, recipes, and maybe a little marital strife on air. After writing thirty-six cookbooks, we've got countless opinions and ideas on ingredients, recipes, the nature of the cookbook-writing business, and much more. If you've got a passion for food, we also hope to up your game once and a while and to make you laugh most of the time. Come along for the ride! There's plenty of room!

About your host

Profile picture for Mark Scarbrough

Mark Scarbrough

Former lit professor, current cookbook writer, creator of two podcasts, writer of thirty-five (and counting) cookbooks, author of one memoir (coming soon!), married to a chef (my cookbook co-writer, Bruce Weinstein), and with him, the owner of two collies, all in a very rural spot in New England. My life's full and I'm up for more challenges!