Top: Put some camarónes on the barbacoa: That’s Spanish for put some shrimp on the barbie (photo courtesy Eat Wisconsin Cheese). Center: Fresh-caught shrimp from I Love Blue Sea/Vital Choice. Bottom: Poblano chiles (photo courtesy Burpee).

May 10th is National Shrimp Day, celebrating America’s favorite seafood. Here’s a Mexican-style recipe, courtesy of EatWisconsinCheese.com.

You can serve this dish warm or chilled—perhaps with a warm grain or a room temperature or chilled grain salad, plus dressed greens.
 
RECIPE: SHRIMP WITH SOUR CREAM CHILI ADOBO SAUCE

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
_______________________
*Available in the Latin American foods aisle of most supermarkets.

 
Preparation

1. HEAT the oil and 1/4 cup adobo sauce in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the shrimp and cook until pink and no longer translucent. But don’t overcook them: Cooked shrimp should have a slight curl. When they curl tightly inwards, the flesh will be rubbery. While the shrimp cooks…

2. MIX the sour cream, lime juice and 1 tablespoon of adobo sauce in a small bowl. Pour into a small serving dish. Sprinkle the poblanos over shrimp to garnish.
 
TIPS FOR USING FROZEN SHRIMP

1. THAW the shrimp slowly in the refrigerator beginning 24 hours before you plan to cook them. Place the container in the refrigerator on a low shelf—if not in a sealed bag, then covered lightly with plastic wrap. Then remove any liquid that has collected in the container and use the thawed shrimp within one day.

NOTE: Keep all raw foods on the lowest shelf and cooked foods on higher shelves to prevent any contamination from raw juices dripping onto cooked food.

3. QUICK THAWING TECHNIQUE: If you can closely monitor the shrimp, place them in a leak-proof plastic bag (if it is not in one already.) Submerge the shrimp in cold tap water and change the water every 30 minutes until the shrimp has defrosted. Do not try to hasten the process with warm water or hot water because the shrimp will begin to cook. Cook immediately after thawing.

Adobo is a Mexican spice blend: spicy and rich in flavor, but not too hot. As with chili powder, Chinese Five Spice, curry powder, jerk spice and other spice blends, the ingredients and proportions will vary somewhat among manufacturers and home cooks.

Traditional adobo blends contain black pepper, cayenne, cumin, garlic, onion and oregano. They have no added salt (but check the label). You can buy the dry spice mix, or ready-made, canned chipotles in adobo sauce.

Traditional uses are as a rub, along with lime juice and a bit of salt, on grilled chicken, fish or pork. It is added to chili recipes and taco fixings, and used to season guacamole.

You can buy adobo ready-mixed, or can blend your own. For the latter, try 2 tablespoons granulated garlic, 1 tablespoon salt (optional), 4 teaspoons dried oregano, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 2 teaspoons cumin, 2 teaspoons onion powder and 2 teaspoons cayenne, ground chipotle or other chile powder.
  

One of our team makes two runs a day for a caramel macchiato at the corner Starbucks. This one’s for you, Christina.

There are numerous types of espresso drinks, from affogato (espresso served over ice cream) to Vanilla Latte (3:1 steamed milk and espresso with vanilla-flavored syrup).

“Macchiato” means marked or stained in Italian (in France, it’s called cafe noisette).

In Italy, caffè macchiato is made in an espresso cup, from steamed milk which is “marked” by the addition of espresso. The espresso poured into the center of the foam, sinks down, and leaves a brown spot on top (photos #4 and #5). In Italy, it’s a mid-morning drink’ many Italians add a bit of sugar.

The chief difference between a macchiato and a latte is that the macchiato has aesthetically pleasing layers of color. With a Latte, the espresso and milk are completely integrated (see photos at right).

As adapted to American tastes, the macchiato became a larger drink—and a sweeter one, of course, with the addition of caramel syrup.

A caramel macchiato starts with steamed milk and vanilla syrup, adds the espresso, and tops the drink with a drizzle of caramel syrup. (Starbucks says that its 16-ounce size is 250 calories.)

The recipe and history of the caramel macchiato follow, along with:

> A recipe to make your own vanilla syrup.

> A recipe to make your own caramel syrup.
 
 
But first, for your consideration:

> The different types of espresso drinks.

> The history of espresso.

> The different types of coffee.

> The history of coffee

> The history of caramel.

> National Macchiato Day is November 19th.

> The year’s 25 coffee holidays
 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE CARAMEL MACCHIATO

Starbucks introduced the caramel macchiato in the fall of 1996. Hannah Su, a Starbucks employee, developed the iconic drink. She said she wanted to create something special to mark Starbucks’ 25th anniversary.

The challenge was coming up with a silky, velvety caramel sauce that stayed on top of the foam.

She and a few colleagues spent some 10 months working on the recipe, creating more than 30 different iterations.

The initial plan was to offer the Caramel Macchiato for just a few weeks. But it proved to be far more popular than anyone could have imagined and has become a menu staple [source].
 
 
RECIPE #1: HOMEMADE CARAMEL MACCHIATO

You can make your own at home in five minutes and double the recipe if you like. But try a single size first in case you want to adjust the proportions.

You can buy the syrups or make your own (recipes below).

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. WARM an empty cup (we microwave it for 10 seconds) and add 1 tablespoon of vanilla syrup. Froth the milk and add it, along with the foam, to the cup.

2. Pour in the espresso. Drizzle the caramel sauce to garnish, and serve.
 
 
RECIPE #2: MAKE YOUR OWN VANILLA SYRUP

Ingredients For 1-1/3 Cups

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the two sugars and the pinch of salt with the cup of water in a saucepan. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat.

2. STIR slowly and continuously at a gentle simmer until all of the sugars and salt are completely dissolved and the mixture is clear (it should not look gritty anymore). Note: Do not bring the mixture to a rapid boil; the goal is just to dissolve the sugar. This should take about 3-5 minutes. One the sugar is dissolved…

3. REMOVE the saucepan from the heat. Allow the syrup to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Then stir in the 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. When completely cooled to room temperature…

4. STORE in an airtight container (like a glass jar or bottle) and refrigerate. The syrup should last for 2–3 weeks when refrigerated.
 
 
RECIPE #3: MAKE YOUR OWN CARAMEL SYRUP

Ingredients For 1-1/3 Cups

[1] A regular macchiato—hold the caramel, save the calories (photo © Ruandom Zhong | Pexels).

[2] A caramel macchiato from Starbucks (photo © Starbucks).

[3] Get ready to pour (photo © Eugenie Kitchen).

[4] Pouring espresso into the foamed milk (photo © Masud Allahverdizad | Pexels).

[5] A plain macchiato with the “brown spot” (photo © Kenny Kenneth | Unsplash).

[6] An iced macchiato (photo © Najla Cam | Unsplash).

1. ADD the sugar to a heavy saucepan and cook over medium-high heat. The sugar will liquefy; watch it closely because it burns easily. When the liquid starts to turn amber, remove the pan from the heat and immediately…

2. WHISK in the butter and fully incorporate it into the sugar. Quickly whisk in the cream (bubbles and foam are natural).

3. STIR in the vanilla and salt. Let cool and transfer to a squeeze bottle (or other container).
 
 

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Top: Deluxe grill from Landmann. Bottom: Weber’s Q series fits almost anywhere.

Did you fire up the grill for Mother’s Day? It’s one of the biggest barbecue days of the year, with 34% 0f grill owners cooking celebrate Mom. It following the Fourth of July (76%), Labor Day (62%), Memorial Day (62%) and Father’s Day (49%) in popularity.

More than 75% of Americans own a grill or smoker. May is National Barbecue Month: A survey from the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association (HPBA) names grilling as America’s favorite patio pastime.

Our Tip Of The Day: Have a BYO Favorite Dish barbecue party. Whether it’s a venerable family recipe or something more recent like grilled poppers, everyone should bring a favorite food: sides, punch, desserts, etc. (In our family, it’s homemade baked beans with molasses and a topping of crisp bacon.)

It can be quite a feast: Beyond proteins and veggies, people grill everything from bread, pizza and quesadillas to fruit and other desserts.
 
2016 BBQ TRENDS

Whether for easy weeknight dinners, weekend feasts or even breakfast, here’s the scoop from HPBA’s most recent State of the Barbecue Industry Report, from a survey conducted in July and August, 2015.

 
WHAT’S A BARBEQUE?

Barbecue is a noun and a verb. It’s a meal cooked outdoors—for millennia over an open fire until the development of modern gas and electric grills. “Barbecue” also refers to:

 
BARBECUE, BARBEQUE OR BBQ?

Barbecue and barbeque are alternative spellings, along with the short form BBQ.

To quote chef Anthony Bourdain, “Barbecue may not be the road to world peace, but it’s a start.”