Archive for the 'Party' Category

Tacos al pastor

Published
by
marc
on May 4, 2008
in BBQ, Dinner, Mexican, Party and Pork
. 15 Comments

I think the 3 things I miss most about California are owning a car, having a grill, and the Mexican food. The later two are especially salient around Cinqo De Mayo which for me used to signal the start of the grilling season.

Like the Mexican food in NYC, Cinco De Mayo is a bit misguided here in the US. Most people think it’s the Mexican equivalent of July 4th, but it’s actually not even a federal holiday south of the border (Mexican Independence day on September 16th however is). I suspect its prominence in the US has a lot to do with the marketing engines of big tex-mex chains looking for a way to sell more burritos (ironically, this is a food item that doesn’t have the wide popularity in Mexico that it does here). Still, it is a good excuse to cook Mexican food especially something a bit more elaborate that takes about a day to make.

One of my favourite taco’s, Tacos Al Pastor (”shepherd style”) likely originated from Lebanese immigrants who made their way to Mexico and brought with them Shawarma. Like any food that emigrates from one place to another, changes are made to include locally available ingredients and to suit local palettes. In this case, the meats were flavored with various chiles and then topped with a pineapple while roasting.

The pineapple, aside from adding some sweetness and acidity, also has an enzyme called bromelain that breaks down proteins making the meat very tender. Since we don’t all have shawarma spits at home, I’ve adapted this recipe to work in an oven or on a cooler grill. The pineapple goes into the marinade which gets layered into the roast and is then left to marinade for a short amount of time.

The meat is stunningly tender with a distinct earthy-smokey flavor coming from the dried chiles and a nice balance of sweetness, tartness and salt. I like my taco’s simple (like they serve them at taquerias in Mexico) and load up a double layer of corn tortillas with meat then add a bit of minced sweet onion, cilantro and salsa verde on top.

Continue for full recipe

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White chocolate matcha mint buttercream on coconut cupcakes

Published
by
admin
on April 20, 2008
in Dessert and Party
. 11 Comments

Let’s face it, cupcakes, aren’t about the cake so much as the frosting. The cake is really just there as a foil for the tasty frosting (how else can you justify putting several tablespoons of butter and sugar in your stomach?). I’m guessing this is why frosting haters typically don’t like cupcakes.

The other day when a craving for white chocolate matcha mint frosting popped into my head (no I’ve never tried this combo before), I decided to make cupcakes to serve the frosting on:-) Thus began the search for the perfect cupcake and frosting recipe to make my dream a reality. I remember seeing some yummy looking frosting recipes over at Tartelette’s blog, so I headed over in search of the perfect frosting recipe. What I found was a rendition of Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Mousseline Buttercream… Perfect!

Now for the cupcake… I wanted something light and airy while still moist and tender. I thought about using a sponge cake batter, but they tend to be a bit less velvety than I wanted and I was also looking for something nice and white without much of an eggy flavor. After sifting through a bunch of blogs and cookbooks I found what I was looking for. The New Best Recipe cookbook has a recipe for an “all purpose birthday cake” that uses no egg yolks and is absurdly simple. The following is based off that recipe.

   

coconut cupcake (makes 12)
1/2 C coconut milk
3 egg whites (room temp)

1 C + 2 Tbs cake flour
3/4 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbs unsalted butter (room temp)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and move the rack to the middle position. Put cupcake liners into a muffin plan.

Combine the coconut milk and egg whites and whisk together.

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix to combine.

Add the butter and beat until there are crumbly pebbles and no powdery ingredients left. Add half the milk/egg mixture. Beat for about 1 minute or until smooth. Scrape down the bowl and add the rest of the milk mixture, beating until combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cupcake liners till they’re about 2/3’s full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer or small knife inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.

Once they’re out of the oven, transfer to a wire rack to cool (if you leave them in the pan, the residual heat on the pan will overcook them).

White chocolate matcha mint buttercream

1/3 C sugar
2 Tbs water
2 large egg whites
2 sticks of butter softened but still cool(1 C)
4 oz white chocolate melted and cooled
1 tsp matcha powder
1-2 drops peppermint oil

Put the sugar and water in a small sauce pan and heat until it reaches 250 degrees F. Swirl if you have to, but don’t stir. Use a wet pastry brush to wash down the sides of the pan if sugar crystals start forming.

Meanwhile beat the egg whites until firm peaks form. With the mixer on medium, slowly pour the sugar mixture down the side of the mixer bowl (careful not to pour it on the whisk directly or you’ll splatter really hot syrup all over the place). Whisk until the egg whites have cooled off.

Add the butter 1 Tbs at a time. If the butter is too cold it will clump, but don’t worry, just turn up the mixer a little and it will smooth out. If the butter is too warm, it will look runny, but again don’t worry, by the time you’re done adding butter it will firm up.

Add the cooled melted chocolate, the matcha powder and a drop or two of peppermint oil (this stuff is potent, and you don’t want it to overpower the matcha) and whisk on high until smooth and fluffy. If it still looks too loose, put the whole bowl in the fridge for a few minutes then whisk it some more.

Spoon or pipe a good dollop of frosting on each cupcake and serve.

Update: I submitted this to Sugar High Friday… this month’s theme: Asian Invasion, hosted by La Petite Boulangette. Thanks for the tip Brittany!

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Vegetarian Gyoza (potstickers)

Published
by
marc
on April 12, 2008
in Appetizer, Asian, Japanese, Party and Vegetarian
. 11 Comments

As I was coming up with a title for this post, half of me wanted to omit the “v” word because as a meat eater, I often skip passed the flimsy vegetarian approximations of dishes that are supposed to contain meat. Why? I guess my experience has been that most veggie approximations are just that… less tasty approximations for people that have made the switch.

So why on earth would I take the porky goodness out of these dumplings? Well, those of you that have been reading along may have noticed that I have a new found obsession with Quinoa. I’ve used it in place of cous cous and suggested it has potential as a substitute for tobiko. Red quinoa even looks a bit like cooked ground meat… which got me thinking… could I possibly sub in quinoa for pork and trick other meat eaters into thinking they were eating pig? A worthy challenge indeed.

I started with my recipe for making regular gyoza, subbed in quinoa for the pork, added shitake mushrooms for a boost in flavor and an egg to help bind everything together. If you’re horribly opposed to a meatless dumpling you could always turn this back into a less animal friendly recipe, but I really do urge you to give this a try. Aside from the fact that Quinoa is cheaper, healthier, and greener, I actually like these better than their meat containing counterparts.

   

1 C cooked quinoa
1 C boiled cabbage squeezed and roughly minced
2 fresh shitake mushrooms minced
1 Tbs minced ginger
2 cloves garlic minced
2 green onions minced
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp mirin (sweet japanese cooking wine)
1/4 tsp finely ground white pepper
salt to taste (usually add about 1/4 tsp but it’s up to you)

1 egg
1 pack gyoza wrappers (small round wonton wrappers)

dipping sauce
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs rice vinegar
1/4 tsp chili oil (optional)

make the dumplings

Cook the quinoa according to the package directions. Boil some cabbage for about 10 minutes, cool, then squeeze any excess liquid out before mincing.

Combine the first 10 ingredients in a bowl and mix, taste and add some more salt if you like. Add in the egg and mix well to combine.

This next part seems to intimidate a lot of people but after a bit of practice it goes really fast. Basically you want to take 1 wrapper in the palm of your hand left hand (if right handed) and spoon a small amount of filling in the center (it’s easier to pleat if you have less, you can always add more in the subsequent ones).

Dip a finger from your other hand in a bowl of water and get the outer 1/4″ of the wrapper wet all around.

Fold the wrapper in half like a taco then starting from the left edge, start sealing the wrapper placing a pleat about once every 1/4″. Don’t worry if your first few look bad, they’ll get better and as long as it’s well sealed, it shouldn’t effect the end result much.

fry the dumplings
Get a non-stick pan (that has a lid) hot over medium heat, then add about a teaspoon of oil. Place the dumplings in the pan with the flat-side down. Cook for about 1 minute or until the bottoms are just turning light brown.

With the lid ready to cover the pan, add about 2 Tbs of water then quickly put the lid down (be very careful as the pan will start spitting hot oil as soon as you put the water in). Turn down the heat and steam the dumplings for about 4 minutes.

Remove the lid, turn up the heat to medium high and let any remaining water evaporate so the dumplings get nice and crisp on the bottom (about another minute). Plate and serve immediately with dipping sauce.

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Chipotle turkey chili with pickled jalepenos

Published
by
marc
on March 9, 2008
in Mexican, Party, Soups & Stews and Winter
. 0 Comments

Chipotle turkey chili with pickled jalepenos

It used to be that the word “chili” would conjure up images of brown chunky mush that looked (and smelled) like something you would feed a furry four legged companion. The only thing that would make the chili of my memories remotely edible was to douse it with loads of cheese, sour cream, onions, and salsa.

Recently I was contemplating the contents of my pantry and given barren shelf with a lone can of smoked chipotle chilis and cannellini beans (aka white kidney beans) staring back at me, I decided I’d throw old notions of chili out the window. What I came up with was a fresher alternative that still captures the spicy warming essence of what good chili should be.

As in keeping with this blog’s name, I encourage you to take liberties on the ingredients and come up with your own perfect chili. Some ideas include replacing the turkey with crumbled extra firm tofu, using different spices, and serving it with different things. The picture above illustrates what I did with the chili on day 2.

Chili
2 tbs - good olive oil
1 - medium onion diced
1 - celery stalk diced
1 - jalepeno, seeds removed and minced
3 - garlic cloves minced
1 tbs - minced ginger

1 - bay leaf
1 tbs - ground cumin
1 tbs - ground coriander
1 tsp - cinnamon
1 tsp - chili powder

1 lbs - ground turkey

2 - chipotle chiles (canned in adobo sauce) diced
2 tbs - Adobo sauce from the chipotle chiles
3 cups - low sodium chicken stock

1 16 oz can - cannellini beans drained and rinsed

Pickled Jalepenos
2 - Jalepeno peppers sliced thin
1/4 tsp - salt
pinch of sugar
2 tbs - white vinegar

In a medium saucepan, saute the first set of ingredients in the olive
oil over medium heat until soft and starting to caramelize. Add the
spices and cook for another minute until fragrant.

Add the ground chicken, turn up the heat and break up into small
chunks until cooked through.

Add the chili’s, reserved adobo sauce and chicken stock and bring to a
boil. Turn down the heat, add the beans and simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve with pickled jalepenos and toasted bread rubbed with a clove of
raw garlic.

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Grapefruit Guacamole

Published
by
marc
on February 20, 2008
in Appetizer, Mexican and Party
. 1 Comment

Grapefruit Guacamole

I’m a big fan of simple citrusy guac and grapefruit goes especially well with avocados. The tart sweetness along with the slight bitter edge offset the creamy smoothness of the avocados well. Pickling the onions first keep them from overpowering the citrus and the cilantro adds a freshness that rounds out the guac nicely.

1/4 small red onion thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 Tbs.)
1/2 tsp. salt
Juice of 1-2 segments of grapefruit

5 segments of grapefruit peeled
1 ripe avocado roughly chopped
1 Tbs. minced cilantro
Juice of half a lime

Combine the first 3 ingredients ahead of time and let the onions “pickle” for at least 10 minutes. Squeeze out the juice with your hands before using.

Crumble the grapefruit up into pieces with your fingers, add the avocados, pickled onions, cilantro and lime juice and stir to combine (the avocado’s should still be chunky). Salt to taste and serve with chips or on top of a grilled white meat fish like Halibut.

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