Your game day party is about to get exotic.
Chef Javier Melendez is reinventing Puerto Rican and Scottish noshes for your viewing -- and chomping -- pleasure.
One of the munchies is his Scotch Egg featured on Byte Bistro's menu.
"I like doing a different version of it because I do it with a coddled egg," he said, revealing a beautifully-textured, ooey, gooey cross-section.
A Scotch Egg is basically an egg wrapped in crunchy, meaty goodness. But Chef 'brings it home' with a maple glaze drizzlin' that practically turns this into breakfast.
Chef also demoed his beef short rib empanada. He stews it down with special flavor-enhancers, like cinnamon.
"It plays with your mouth," he smiled.
And, naturally -- sofrito.
"It's basically the base for everything in Puerto Rican food," he said.
Let's cook!
Byte Bistro's Beef Short Rib Empanadas:
- 10 empanada discs
- 2 lbs. beef short ribs
- Half cup red onion chopped
- Qtr. Cup red pepper chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- Qtr. Cup cilantro
- Qtr. Cup green pepper chopped
- 1 jalapeno
- 2 tables. tomato paste or ketchup
- 2 Qts. Chicken stock
- 1 c white wine
- 1 sweet plantain fried and cut into strips
- Egg wash
- 2 oz. Veg oil
- Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Cinnamon half teasp.
Coriander half teasp.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl toss ribs with salt pepper cinnamon and coriander place in hot oven and cook for 15 min. till nice and brown. In a food processor puree the rest of ingredients.
In a pot at medium high heat drop oil and cook puree mixture cook for 5 minutes. Add tomato paste, cook another minute.
Add ribs, stir well, add wine and stock, bring to boil, cover and reduce heat to medium low. Cook for 2 hours till fork tender. Shred beef by hand.
Place empanada disc on table, egg wash edges. Fill middle with 2 oz. beef and 2 strips of plantain. Fold and close edges with a fork.
Byte Bistro's Scotch Egg:
- 6 hard boiled eggs or coddled
- Half cup Flour
- Half cup bread crumbs
- Egg wash
For sausage:
- 1 pound ground pork
- Qtr. pound bacon chopped small
- Half teasp. Sage dry
- Half teasp. Garlic powder
- Qtr. Teasp. Dry fennel
- Half Tables. Salt
- Half teasp. Black pepper
- 1 tables. Honey
Directions:
In a food processor combine all sausage ingredients and bacon process till well combined.
Set up flour, egg wash and breadcrumbs to bread eggs.
In one hand place 3 oz. of sausage, flatten into a disc, flour, egg and place in middle of sausage. Roll corner till they meet. Work around the egg.
Place in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs and fry at medium high heat for 4 minutes.
Garnish w chives and maple syrup.