As I polished off some leftovers from last night’s Tacos Al Pastor (which I added ramps to tonight), I was hit with a wicked craving for dessert. Doing a survey of the fruit bowl and fridge, all I could find was a quarter of a pineapple and some rhubarb. Clafoutis?…. nah, too pedestrian… I need something more… fiery!
Flambé is one of those showboaty table-side dishes that’s kind of gone the way of table prepped caesar salad and steak tartare. If you thought it was fun watching a dude in a tux prepare it for you, let me assure you that it’s MUCH more satisfying doing it yourself. I mean come on… sugar, butter, alcohol and FIRE. What’s not to love here?
This is one of those desserts that I’ll make with just about anything (corn flambé anyone?). The alcohol butter and sugar make a delightfully dark brown caramel sauce that’s hard to beat on vanilla ice cream.
Drooling yet? Well you’re gonna have to hold your horses ’cause we’ve been tagged with the “You Make My Day Award” by Parsnips Aplenty, who has an awesome blog you should check out. I also got tagged for the Top 10 Pictures meme a while back by Diva of The Sugar Bar who also has a fine blog I’d recommend (sorry it took me so long to mention this).
On the topic of memes I’ve been mulling over this one, and while it might make me unpopular, I honestly feel like they’re a bit like those Neiman-Marcus cookie recipe chain letters. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s awesome that someone thought my blog worthy of being tagged, but I guess I just take issue with the fundamentals of memes. In the future if anyone tags me, I’ll reciprocate the linklove, but I’ll be “that guy” that doesn’t propagate the meme by passing it on to others.
Okay back to the regularly scheduled programming. Here’s a shot of the butter and sugar melting.
What’s that? Rum is flammable?!
Hit the jump for the money shots…
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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.
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