Flashback Friday - Viente de Mayo

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on May 20, 2013.

After seeing several Internet items extolling the virtue of making one's own corn tortillas, I thought I'd give it a go. Why not try it to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, a holiday that means nothing to most Americans but, like St. Patrick's Day, is a good excuse to drink?

But we had a pack of corn tortillas in the fridge already, and, truth be told, Mr Minx isn't all that fond of tacos made with soft corn tortillas. (I know!) So instead of tortillas, I figured I'd make some other sort of fried thingy with my newly-purchased bag of masa. 

I noodled around online and found recipes for things called sopes, which appeared to be thick fried tortillas with a rim around the edge. But some of those recipes were similar to the rimless gorditas, which may or may not be split open and filled, depending on the recipe consulted. This blog (and others) calls them Salvadoran enchiladas, but if there's no chiles on them, etymologically speaking, how is that even possible? 

If I did call them sopes or gorditas and, heaven forfend, topped or filled them with something non-traditional or not from the proper region, the spirits of Mexican grandmothers will haunt me forever. Or so my research led me to believe.

I decided that the best--and safest--technical term for fried corn thingies made by a gringo like me would be Fried Corn Thingies. Then I would be able to top them with whatever my little heart wanted to top them with, without fear of repercussions from the Great Beyond. For our Cinco de Mayo dinner, that was a combination of chicken and chorizo, plus refried black beans and various condiments. On the side I served my version of esquites, and we washed everything down with passionfruit margaritas. Well, the original intention was to have passionfruit margaritas, but the Ceres brand passionfruit juice I purchased didn't taste very much like the tangy fruit in question. They were ok, but not anything to write home about. Especially if home is Mexico. Everything else, however, was muy bueno.

Fried Corn Thingies with Assorted Toppings

Thingies (recipe below)
Refried Black Beans (recipe below)
Chorizo Chicken (recipe below)
Chipotle Sauce (recipe below)
Easy Salsa (or your favorite salsa) (recipe below)
crumbly cheese, like feta or cotija
sliced avocado
fresh cilantro

Layer beans, chicken, chipotle sauce, salsa, and cheese on a Thingy. Top with avocado and cilantro. Devour and repeat.

Fried Corn Thingies 

2 cups masa
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for frying

Mix masa, water, and 1/4 cup oil into a smooth dough. Divide dough into 10 pieces. Form each one into a flattened disk about 1/4" thick.

Heat a griddle or large frying pan. Add disks a few at a time and cook for about 2 minutes on the first side, until it starts to brown lightly. Flip the disks, cook 2 minutes more on the other side, and remove from heat. Set aside until ready to eat.

When ready to serve, cook the thingies about 2 minutes per side in a bit of oil to crisp. Drain on paper towels.

Refried Black Beans

1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

Put beans and water in a saucepan and cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently and vigorously, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the beans are mostly mashed. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste.

Chorizo Chicken

1/2 cup chopped onion
vegetable oil
pinch salt
2 links Mexican chorizo
3 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
splash balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook onion in a bit of oil and a pinch of salt until softened. Remove chorizo from casings and add to onions, breaking up sausage with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes, until sausage starts to darken. Add the chicken thighs, broth, and cilantro. Bring to a boil, then cover the pot and turn the heat down to medium-low. Simmer chicken about thirty minutes until tender.

Remove chicken from pot and allow to cool for a few minutes. With your fingers, two forks, or a knife and a fork, shred/chop the meat into small piece and add back to the pan. Turn up heat and cook, uncovered, until most of the liquid has evaporated, skimming off most of the red oil that rises to the top. Stir in the garlic, brown sugar, and vinegar. Cook an additional minute or two and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chipotle Sauce

1 canned chipotle in adobo, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
3 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
pinch sugar
pinch salt

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Easy Salsa

2 large or 4 small tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1 tablespoon lime juice
pinch cumin
salt and pepper to taste.

Mix first four ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Cyrus Keefer @ 13.5% Wine Bar

Although we'd written about Hampden's 13.5% Wine Bar not all that long ago, we felt we had to visit and write again, now that Cyrus Keefer was running the kitchen. We knew Cyrus from his delicious work at Fork & Wrench, and we supported his efforts to open his own Hampden restaurant, Pique. That didn't pan out, but we're happy that he did end up in the neighborhood. He's doing his own thing at 13.5% which means clever techniques and lots of big flavors with a touch of Asia here and there.

We started out with a dish of crispy brussels sprouts that had been given a Mediterranean flavor treatment. The sprouts had been fried to a dark brown, but they were somehow still fairly light in texture, and served with chopped cucumber, pine nuts, grapes, oregano, lemon peel, and feta cheese. It was one of the more unusual brussels sprouts preparations in a town full of brussels sprouts preparations. We loved the textures and the pop of sweetness from the grapes.

We also tried the lamb meatballs, which were delicate and very juicy. They also came on a flaming hot plate that the runner did not warn us about. Consequently, I burned my fingers moving the plate because my OCD needs everything to be centered if it can be centered. So, you are forewarned. However, the balls were great and we could have eaten more.

Because we're piggy like that, we also ordered the pork belly spring rolls. The tender pork was bound with shrimp puree, which gave the rolls a briny fragrance and a dense meaty texture. They weren't much to look at (hence no photo), but they were lovely in flavor and had a nice crispy texture.

For his entree, Mr Minx enjoyed the squid bolognese, which was both expected and unexpected. Expected in that it was a straight-up sort of tomatoey bolognese sauce, unexpected in that the pasta was a tagliatelle made with squid ink. The dish was topped with a tangle of barely-cooked squid that had been cut to mimic the shape of the pasta. Mr Minx dispatched it post haste (after sharing a few bites with me).

I also liked my dish, a "congee" made with barley and creamed corn, topped with a wonderfully meaty soft shell crab, and fried mushrooms. The creamy and crunchy textures plus the flavors of land and sea were a delight to my palate. My only issue with the dish is that it had a few too many chili threads on top. They're fine, flavor wise, but not necessarily texturally.

Photo credit: someone at 13.5% Wine Bar. My pic was horribly blurry, so I swiped this one from FB.

I have been eating a lot of soft shell crabs recently, because it's the season and because I usually feel deprived of them. Cyrus' version was one of my top 5 ever. It didn't hurt that they were the plumpest, meatiest, crabs I've encountered.

We didn't order dessert, but the three or four on the menu looked like they had potential. Next time. And next time we'll be sure to get octopus (Cyrus does wonderful things with the cephalopod) and I am curious about his taken on ramen as well.

13.5% has just revamped their front, opening it up wide and adding outdoor seating. The extra light and warmth should be popular now that summer is finally here.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Bourbon, Bacon, and Caramel Cocktail

I'm going to the Fancy Food Show in NY next week. This will be my first one, and I'm excited! In preparation, I contacted a couple of the purveyors listed on the Specialty Foods web site in order to get information in advance. There are way more exhibitors than I'll be able to visit, and I figured this way I'll get a better idea of products that might be of the most interest to me.

One of those products was Lori's Salt Caramel Syrup, from the French Connection in Ashland, Oregon. They won't be at the show, but they were willing to send me some of their product to sample.

The syrup is made from caramelized cane sugar, Tahitian vanilla, Celtic sea salt, and a soupçon of maple. The flavor is subtly salty, and subtly maple-y, and I can see how it would be terrific on pancakes. Their marketing director suggested that it can also be used on ice cream, oatmeal, and corn bread, but I thought it would make a nifty addition to a cocktail. With bacon.

After trying the syrup with both rum and bourbon, I determined that bourbon was the perfect choice. The resulting drink is simple, and reminiscent of a Manhattan. Because of that, I'm calling it an Ashland, after the town in which Lori's Salt Caramel Syrup is produced.

Ashland

Lori's Salt Caramel Syrup
bourbon (if you can get some bacon-infused bourbon, all the better)
Angostura bitters
crumbled crisp bacon
twists of lemon peel

For each cocktail, stir 2 ounces of bourbon, 1/2 ounce of salt caramel syrup, and a dash of bitters together with ice.

Dip the rim of a cocktail glass in a bit of the syrup, then in the crumbled bacon. Strain the drink into the glass. Add the lemon twist.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Viente de Mayo

After seeing several Internet items extolling the virtue of making one's own corn tortillas, I thought I'd give it a go. Why not try it to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, a holiday that means nothing to most Americans but, like St. Patrick's Day, is a good excuse to drink?

But we had a pack of corn tortillas in the fridge already, and, truth be told, Mr Minx isn't all that fond of tacos made with soft corn tortillas. (I know!) So instead of tortillas, I figured I'd make some other sort of fried thingy with my newly-purchased bag of masa. 

I noodled around online and found recipes for things called sopes, which appeared to be thick fried tortillas with a rim around the edge. But some of those recipes were similar to the rimless gorditas, which may or may not be split open and filled, depending on the recipe consulted. This blog (and others) calls them Salvadoran enchiladas, but if there's no chiles on them, etymologically speaking, how is that even possible? 

If I did call them sopes or gorditas and, heaven forfend, topped or filled them with something non-traditional or not from the proper region, the spirits of Mexican grandmothers will haunt me forever. Or so my research led me to believe.

I decided that the best--and safest--technical term for fried corn thingies made by a gringo like me would be Fried Corn Thingies. Then I would be able to top them with whatever my little heart wanted to top them with, without fear of repercussions from the Great Beyond. For our Cinco de Mayo dinner, that was a combination of chicken and chorizo, plus refried black beans and various condiments. On the side I served my version of esquites, and we washed everything down with passionfruit margaritas. Well, the original intention was to have passionfruit margaritas, but the Ceres brand passionfruit juice I purchased didn't taste very much like the tangy fruit in question. They were ok, but not anything to write home about. Especially if home is Mexico. Everything else, however, was muy bueno.

Fried Corn Thingies with Assorted Toppings

Thingies (recipe below)
Refried Black Beans (recipe below)
Chorizo Chicken (recipe below)
Chipotle Sauce (recipe below)
Easy Salsa (or your favorite salsa) (recipe below)
crumbly cheese, like feta or cotija
sliced avocado
fresh cilantro

Layer beans, chicken, chipotle sauce, salsa, and cheese on a Thingy. Top with avocado and cilantro. Devour and repeat.

Fried Corn Thingies 

2 cups masa
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for frying

Mix masa, water, and 1/4 cup oil into a smooth dough. Divide dough into 10 pieces. Form each one into a flattened disk about 1/4" thick.

Heat a griddle or large frying pan. Add disks a few at a time and cook for about 2 minutes on the first side, until it starts to brown lightly. Flip the disks, cook 2 minutes more on the other side, and remove from heat. Set aside until ready to eat.

When ready to serve, cook the thingies about 2 minutes per side in a bit of oil to crisp. Drain on paper towels.

Refried Black Beans

1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

Put beans and water in a saucepan and cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently and vigorously, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the beans are mostly mashed. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste.

Chorizo Chicken

1/2 cup chopped onion
vegetable oil
pinch salt
2 links Mexican chorizo
3 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
splash balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook onion in a bit of oil and a pinch of salt until softened. Remove chorizo from casings and add to onions, breaking up sausage with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes, until sausage starts to darken. Add the chicken thighs, broth, and cilantro. Bring to a boil, then cover the pot and turn the heat down to medium-low. Simmer chicken about thirty minutes until tender.

Remove chicken from pot and allow to cool for a few minutes. With your fingers, two forks, or a knife and a fork, shred/chop the meat into small piece and add back to the pan. Turn up heat and cook, uncovered, until most of the liquid has evaporated, skimming off most of the red oil that rises to the top. Stir in the garlic, brown sugar, and vinegar. Cook an additional minute or two and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chipotle Sauce

1 canned chipotle in adobo, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
3 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
pinch sugar
pinch salt

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Easy Salsa

2 large or 4 small tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1 tablespoon lime juice
pinch cumin
salt and pepper to taste.

Mix first four ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

And All That Chazz

There's been a lot of buzz about the new Italian restaurant in town, Chazz: A Bronx Original, and Mr Minx and I were excited to receive an invitation to sample the menu. A partnership between actor Chazz Palminteri (The Usual Suspects) and local restaurateurs Sergio and Alessandro Vitale (Aldo's), Chazz specializes in coal-fired pizza but is much more than a pizza joint.

Mr Minx and I started out our meal with a couple of drinks from their list of signature cocktails. Mine was the tartly refreshing and possibly too easy to drink Al Fresco, made with strawberries, lime, basil and the locally-produced Sloop Betty vodka. Mr Minx, a sucker for a Manhattan, tried the Pikesville, a classic made with Maryland-produced rye whiskey. It seemed somehow lighter than the usual version, which made for a pleasant Summer sipper.

Al Fresco and Pikesville Manhattan

Because there are so many categories on the menu, it was hard to decide what exactly we wanted to sample. We were advised to try a cheese, a pizza, a pasta, and an appetizer, but the vegetable selections tempted us. As did the bruschette. And panini. And salads. We couldn't possibly have eaten one of each (ok, maybe we could have), so we went for things that sounded the most tempting.

We started out with Chazz's rendition of a Caprese salad, this one featuring a honkin' slab of Burrata cheese, with roasted tomatoes, pesto, and a balsamic syrup. Burrata is a fresh cheese comprising a shell of mozzarella filled with more mozzarella and cream, and Chazz imports theirs from Italy the day it's made. In other words, it's very fresh, and almost evilly luscious. The accompanying sweet little pesto-coated tomatoes added a bit of refreshing acid to the dish; all I needed was a loaf of crusty bread and I would have been quite satisfied to call it dinner all on its own.

Caprese salad with roasted vine tomatoes, burrata, pesto, and balsamic syrup

Because I am a real sucker for fried calamari, we tried Chazz' version. These were piping hot, perfectly crisp, tender, and well-seasoned. A fine example of the dish that has become an appetizer staple.

The fried calamari came with goathorn pepper aioli and
spicy tomato sauce (not pictured).

To be different (and pretend-healthy), we sampled two of the vegetable dishes: roasted Brussels sprouts with pancetta, and Roman-style artichokes. We loved the sprouts (because we love them in any form) with their chewy nuggets of bacon, but they are pretty well-cooked and might be too-cabbagy for some. The artichokes, served at room temperature, have an almost creamy texture and are accented with a bit of mint.

Top - roasted brussels sprouts with pancetta
Bottom - Roman-style artichokes

The veal meatball appetizer is a signature dish, but we chose to try the tender and juicy meatball sliced onto a NY-style pizza instead. Mr Minx is always on the search for a thin crust pizza that isn't too doughy and that has a nice cheese-to-sauce ratio, and I think he's found it. Leftovers were just as delicious two days later.

Veal Meatball NY style pizza with tomato and mozzarella

Besides the Burrata, my favorite dish was the spaghettoni, a thick spaghetti topped with a spicy tomato sauce containing guanciale (a bacon made from the jowl or cheek). The fresh pasta was perfectly al dente, and the sauce had a serious kick to it. We ordered a half portion which was almost hard for me to share, except for the fact that we had so much other food!

Housemade Spaghettoni All'Amatriciana with guanciale

Many of the Italian restaurants in and around Little Italy get their desserts from Vaccaro's, so we usually skip the middle-man and head directly to the Little Italy institution to gorge on cannoli and gelato. However, Chazz has an in-house pastry chef, Janae Aiken, who trained at the CIA; that made it imperative that we try desserts.

Sorry, Vaccaro's, but I gotta say Chazz's cannoli is some stiff competition, with a ricotta filling made extra-rich by the addition of heavy cream. My only criticism (of the entire meal, actually) is that there might have been a bit too much cinnamon in the filling.

Sicilian Cannoli

Lemon-honey ricotta cheesecake with shortbread crust &
warm lemon blueberry sauce

We also sampled the ricotta cheesecake and the chocolate espresso torte. What sold me on the torte was the accompanying scoop of raspberry lime granita - a bit of tanginess to offset the sweet chocolaty richness of the torte. The cheesecake was that perfect texture in between fluffy and dense, and I loved the tiny wild blueberries on top.

Chocolate espresso torte with raspberry lime granita

After gorging ourselves, we (and our doggie bag) went home quite full. And satisfied. I have to admit that we were impressed by the offerings at Chazz, a red-sauce joint that manages to be much more than that. By the time we left the restaurant, it was full of happy, noisy diners, some enjoying multi-course meals, and others who had just popped in for a pizza. While the overall feeling of the restaurant is fairly casual, the quality of the food would make Chazz a good special-occasion spot, too. I know we'll be back.

Chazz: A Bronx Original
1415 Aliceanna Street
Baltimore, MD 21231
www.chazzbronxoriginal.com
(410) 522-5511


Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

Seafood Cocktail

While this might seem odd, when I think of seafood cocktail, I think of the UK and Switzerland. Yes, yes, I said it was odd - bear with me.

Back in 1983, I connived a free trip to London from my Dad, who needed to go there for business. While in London, he left me in the care of his business associate's wife, June, and their daughter Elizabeth, who treated me to a tour of the Barbican, the British Museum, and a West End show (Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Song and Dance." Horr. I. Ble.). In between activities, we ate at the Swiss Centre, where I had my first shrimp cocktail of the trip. While the words "shrimp cocktail" usually conjure up an image of large shrimp arranged daintily around the edge of a stemmed goblet, at the center of which is a dipping sauce comprising ketchup, horseradish, and lemon, this cocktail involved shrimp coated in a creamy pink Louis-style sauce that reminded me of Thousand Island dressing. What was more unusual, however, was the quantity of corn kernels arranged beneath the shrimp. I devoured it; what originally seemed like a bizarre combination somehow worked.

A few days later, Dad and I took a train to Wales. We were met in Cardiff by Mr Gregory, another business associate, who whisked us off to an enchanting thatched-roof pub somewhere in the nearby countryside where I dined once again on a Louis-based seafood cocktail, this time substituting crab for the shrimp and omitting the corn. When his wife Rhiannon and I ended up in the same pub the very next day, I ordered the crab Louis again. There is just something about that mayonnaise-based sauce that enhances the seafood better than the usual sharp red sauce, and now it is my preference.

With three types of shellfish in the freezer, I thought I'd whip up a Swiss-style seafood Louis for a refreshing hot-weather supper. While most Louis recipes call for chili sauce (which creates the pink hue), I find that equal parts ketchup and jarred tomato salsa make a more than adequate substitute. Plus those two items are more likely to be in my pantry.

Seafood Louis

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon ketchup
4 teaspoons salsa
1 tablespoon finely minced green onions
1 teaspoon wasabi powder (or more to taste)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (or more to taste)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
couple dashes Tabasco
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together all ingredients in a large bowl, adding more wasabi and lime if you want it more spicy or tart. Refrigerate until ready to use.

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
6 ounces raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
6 ounces small scallops
6 ounces langoustine or crawfish tails

Heat a saute pan over medium high heat and add the oil and garlic. Stir until garlic is fragrant and add shrimp and scallops. Cook until seafood is opaque, about 5 minutes, and add langoustine tails, stirring to coat in pan juices. Remove seafood from pan and allow to come to room temperature. Reserve any pan juices that accumulate.

When seafood has cooled down, stir any reserved juices into prepared Louis sauce. Add seafood to sauce and toss well. Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow flavors to blend.

To serve:
lettuce
1 cup fresh corn kernels, steamed, or frozen and thawed, drained in a colander.

Arrange a layer of lettuce in a goblet or bowl. Top with a layer of corn, followed by the chilled seafood mixture. Serves 4.

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

Cantaloupe Daiquiri

I found myself the custodian of a ripe cantaloupe and no prosciutto. Rather than eat it plain, I decided to make a refreshing cocktail. With half of it. The other half we....ate plain. :)

Cantaloupe Daiquiri

1/2 ripe cantaloupe
2 jiggers spiced rum
1 jigger melon liqueur
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon agave nectar

Place all in a blender container and blend until frothy. Makes 2 drinks.