Throwback Thursday: Guan Fu

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on July 30, 2018.

I can't believe the amount of food that I consume when I'm with my friend Daisy. It's as if I sprout a second stomach to hold it all. I liked this place a lot, so of course it closed. :( 

---------------------------------------------------

I have always loved Chinese food and can still remember the taste of my very first shrimp in black bean sauce. I was on a "date" with my Dad. My mother had shooed us out of the house so she could have some quiet time with my newly-born baby brother; this makes me about 5 at the time. I had already eaten plenty of American-style Chinese food by that age, but the piquancy of the fermented black beans was a new flavor to me. And I liked it.

Sichuan food appeared on my table sometime in the late 70s, and though may palate was not yet accustomed to heat, I appreciated that the flavors and ingredients used were a bit different from the usual celery, onions, and starchy sauces used in familiar dishes like moo goo gai pan and chow mein. Though the Sichuan and Hunan dishes I ate in my youth were quite different from the ones I ate as a small child, they were still fairly Americanized.

In 2018, there doesn't seem to be as many Chinese restaurants in Baltimore as there used to be. Certainly no good ones (I am sure someone will be happy to argue that point). I've had a hard time finding even mediocre food in my neck of the woods. Thankfully, there is some really good Chinese food to be had outside of Baltimore. I've spoken here many times of my love for Grace Garden in Odenton, and for Hunan Taste in Catonsville. Asian Court in Ellicott City is my place for dim sum. And of course there are plenty of places in Montgomery County, which is a bit of a hike. Chinese food has gone from being a regular weeknight meal to something for a special occasion, but that makes me appreciate it all the more.

New Yorkers, however, don't have to struggle to find really fine Chinese food from many different regions of that vast country. There's a Michelin-starred Sichuan restaurant in Midtown, for god's sake, not to mention the five locations of Xi'am Famous Foods! Flushing, Queens, a half hour subway ride from Midtown, is rife with Chinese restaurants, which made it a bucket list destination for me.

My friend Daisy knew I wanted to eat good Chinese food when I was in NY, so she took me to Guan Fu, in Flushing. The New York Times gave it three stars, which normally doesn't happen to non-European ethnic restaurants. It had to be good, right?

And it was.

The restaurant is full of dark wood, with large tables to hold ample feasts. There are also comfortable wide chairs--which easily accommodate ample posteriors, like mine. The menu has photographs of every dish, which is nice, but only makes one's choice more difficult. Everything looks great.

Daisy had eaten at Guan Fu before, and had tasted a good deal of the menu. I was happy to let her decide what we would eat. Or over-eat, as the case may be. We ordered five dishes, and did a pretty good job of finishing almost everything. It helped that only two of the dishes contained meat, and only one as the star of the dish, but none of them were small.

Dishes were served family-style, arriving at the table in the order in which the kitchen finished preparing them. The bean jelly noodle salad is served cold, so that came to the table quickly. It was spicy yet refreshing, the gelatinous texture of the noodles holding a chill quite well--much appreciated on a day that had reached 98°F.

The Guan Fu style fried yolk corn was perhaps the most intriguing and unfamiliar dish. It was also the largest. The giant plate contained a mountain of fried corn kernels dusted in dried egg yolk; they were both sweet and salty, with a crisp-tender texture that made them a perfect snack. Except eating this dish was slow going, as chopsticks made it difficult to pick up more than one kernel at a time.

Speaking of chopsticks, Guan Fu has a novel approach to them. Rather than using coarse wooden disposable chopsticks, or plastic ones that require washing, they use chopstick handles with replaceable wooden tips. The tips come in little paper packages, which the diner removes before screwing the tips into place. This way they use much less wood and paper than traditional disposable sticks, and there's no doubt that the tips are sanitary.

We also ordered Chinese black fungus in Guan Fu sauce, a quite spicy (three chile peppers, according to the menu) dish of snappy-textured mushrooms (also called wood ears, commonly used in moo shu preparations) with raw onion and chiles in a clear, ginger-forward, sauce.

Our lone meat dish was a stir fry of chicken with Sichuan prickly ash. Prickly ash is a member of the citrus family, which explains why Sichuan peppercorns--which are actually buds--are somewhat lemony in flavor. Oh, and they have a numbing quality, too, with which those who have tried them are familiar. The combination of Sichuan pepper numbing and chile pepper heat is known as ma la, and this chicken dish was loaded with it--but not in an uncomfortable way. There were also bits of crispy potato and even crispier lotus root in the dish, which added some textural contrast.

My favorite dish was the dumplings, which, oddly enough, appeared in the dessert section of the menu. I have been looking for a dish of dumplings in hot chile oil like the one served at a place called Szechuan Best, in Randallstown. We went there semi-regularly in the 80s, and I had to get the dumplings every time. The sauce was hot and oily and redolent of five spice. I think. It's been a long time, but I would know the flavor if I tasted it again. The dumplings at Guan Fu were not the same, though the delicate wrappers filled with pork seemed somewhat similar. The sauce, however, was its own thing. No five spice, and actually quite mild to my palate, but eminently slurpable. Now that I think back on it, I can understand how their relative mildness (only two chile peppers) might be a relief after eating an otherwise highly-spiced meal.

Overall, I liked Guan Fu. I think it's on par with Grace Garden and Hunan Taste, and I'm happy to have been able to compare them so favorably. However, each restaurant has its own personality. I'd definitely like to go back to Guan Fu and get to know it better.

Guan Fu
39-16 Prince St g01
Flushing, NY 11354
http://guanfuny.com/

* 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. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Wine and Seafood - Sponsored Post

I am a Marylander born and bred, and there's nothing that I enjoy more in the summer than a crab feast. Here, that's a pile of blue crabs--Callinectes sapidus--steamed with beer and a ton of spicy paprika-based seasoning, be it Old Bay or some other brand. There are other places that appreciate a summertime crab feast, too, though in those parts of the country they're referred to as "crab boils" and often involve potatoes and corn as well as crab. Sometimes they also include shrimp, or crawfish, or even a different kind of crab. Two Fish Crab Shack, in Chicago, uses snow or king crab in their popular seafood boils, which can be ordered with or without shrimp, and can be had with jerk or lemon pepper flavorings as well as a more traditional Cajun seasoning. Their product can also be found in the frozen seafood section of your local Harris Teeter, which is where I bought mine. I may prefer blue crabs to other varieties, but I am always willing to try something new.

Each pouch contains everything one needs for a proper seafood boil: potatoes, corn, shellfish, and a pack of Cajun-style sauce. Pop the veg into boiling water, add the shellfish, wait a few minutes until everything is cooked through, drain, and toss with sauce. Pretty easy. 

According to the nutritional label, there are four 530-calorie servings per package of Two Fish Seafood Boil, each comprising 3-ish shrimp, 1/4 of the crab, one piece each of the corn and potato, and 1/4 cup of sauce. That might be enough food for two not particularly hungry people who have an appetizer first and dessert afterward, but it's certainly not dinner for four! Most of the calories are in the oil-based sauce, but unless one eats it with a spoon like soup, the vast majority will end up discarded with the shrimp shells and crab detritus. Not to mention that calories will be burned fighting over the crab's fifth leg. Personally, I think most of the oil should be discarded, with half the seasoning used for the seafood and the other half reserved for later in the week, stirred into fresh pasta with either more seafood or some rotisserie chicken! So set aside some sauce, and share your boil with one friend. Buy another bag if you're inviting friends over for dinner.

You're probably thinking to yourself at this point, "where does the wine part of this post's title come in?" I'm glad you asked....

There's a great reason why Marylanders pop open a can of Natty Boh or Corona or other easy-drinking lager-type beer with their steamed crabs: it just works. A cold beer's refreshing effervescence and somewhat bitter flavor puts out the heat of the inevitable encrusting of crab spice and rock salt without dimming the subtle flavor of the crustacean itself. Now, dear reader, think about your favorite wine to go with crabs...or clams, shrimp, or oysters. Brand and varietal, please. Unless you are a connoisseur or sommelier, it's a difficult task, isn't it?  Many affordable white wines that may seem suitable for quaffing with a casual seafood supper are often just plain crap. This is why Ripe Life Wines exists: founder Mary McAuley saw the need for wines that would pair perfectly with the clambakes that were part of her summertime Jersey Shore experience. So she created her own.

Clambake Chardonnay is light and refreshing, with lemony and green apple notes. Clambake Rose is also light and dry, with notes of white nectarine, strawberry, and grapefruit peel. Moules Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine is lemony and apple-y, like the chardonnay. In a nod to traditional champagnes, it also has bread-like notes, in this case brioche. All three are absolutely made for drinking with seafood boils, with notes that complement both the subtle flavors of the seafood itself and the heartier seasonings that accompany them. I particularly enjoyed the Clambake rose with our savory shrimp and crab dinner. The Blanc de Blanc is a natural with spicy foods, but also with simply steamed clams and especially raw oysters. 

Ripe Life Wines are not currently available in Maryland, but they can be sampled at tasting rooms in nearby New Jersey. Two Fish Seafood Boils are available at Maryland area Harris Teeter stores.

* 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. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Faux Crab Cakes

hearts of palm crab cake with corn salad and fonio pilaf

It has not escaped my attention that we've been eating pretty poorly recently. Poorly as in health-wise. We've consumed a lot of tasty food, but nothing with enough vegetables or fiber to make it beneficial to our physical well-being. Sure, a laminated pastry stuffed with pistachio cream does wonders for the psyche while it's being consumed, but ultimately it's adding to the layer of fluff that has been increasing around my midsection over the past year. 

I have the privilege of being able to work from home four days per week until Labor Day, so there's no excuse not to put a proper dinner on the table most nights. Plus, it's summer, so fresh produce is bountiful and delicious, and our balcony herb garden is ready to add flavor to any meal. While we Minxes are not vegan or even vegetarian, I've been trying to use less meat recently. Tofu has been in heavy rotation, and sometimes there's no meat substitute on the table at all. 

The other day, I recalled that we had a recipe for faux crab cakes, made with hearts of palm, in our second book, Baltimore Chef's Table. The recipe came from Great Sage, a very good vegan restaurant in Howard County. Rather than dig up the book and use that recipe, I decided to see what other variations on the theme could be found on the Internet. I found a couple of versions that included canned chickpeas. Yuck. No thanks. Another recipe called for sautéing the hearts of palm with celery and onion, but I wanted something even easier. I did pull out our cookbook and saw that Great Sage baked the hearts of palm for a bit, presumably to dry them out. It was 92F on the day I planned on making these, so turning on the oven was out of the question. It also used celery and peppers. What I wanted was a good old-fashioned Maryland-style crab cake with no extraneous vegetables or legumes. Just a simple binder, filler, and Old Bay Seasoning. So I made up my own recipe, and I gotta say, it turned out very well. Even the dog--who hates vegetables--liked them.

Faux Crab Cakes

This recipe can easily be doubled. 

1 14-oz can hearts of palm

2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoon mayonnaise (use vegan mayo if you are so inclined)

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon gluten-free panko (regular is fine, too)

Oil for frying (corn, canola, whatever you like)

Drain the hearts of palm and place them on a clean kitchen towel. Gather up the edges of the towel and twist them tightly together. Over the sink, wring out as much water from the vegetables as possible. You'll have crushed the hearts of palm in the process, but not enough. Using your hands, rip the vegetable into small chunks and pieces to resemble crab meat.

hearts of palm before squeezing, after squeezing, and after breaking down into small pieces.
Kinda crabby-looking, eh?

Put the hearts of palm pieces in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Form into two rounded patties of equal size.

Add about 2 tablespoons of oil to a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, put in the palm patties. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown. Flip and brown the other side.

Serve with your favorite mayonnaise-based condiment, like tartar sauce. I served mine with an esquites-style corn salad and Yolele fonio pilaf.

2 servings.

Tell me that doesn't look like a crab cake.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Veggies!

It's almost June, and we're firmly into farmers' market season, so it seemed like a good time to post some all-veggie recipes. To be honest, I don't frequent the farmers' markets in the area because they tend to be on Saturday mornings. I'll get out of bed at 5:45am to catch a 6am bus to work, but I don't have much interest in getting up before 10am on the weekends. But if that's your thing, more power to ya. For a number of years, there was a Tuesday morning market in the park across from my office, but I don't know if it's happening this year. I hope so! I love to buy locally-grown peaches and corn to round out my garden of tomatoes and herbs. I don't really need much more than that to have a happy summer.

Here are some of my favorite vegetable recipes. Let me know if you try any of them.

All the Veg can be used in this unusual risotto made with steel cut oats in place of rice.

blackened carrots with other stuff

Blackened Carrots with Harissa Yogurt &

Blackened Carrots with Other Stuff - we first encountered the concept of blackened carrots at one of Bobby Flay's NY restaurants and I added the preparation to my repertoire. Roasted carrots, blackened or not, are meaty and versatile and make a great first course or entree, with the right accompaniments.

Brussels Sprouts Tacos - I can't imagine not loving brussels sprouts, but I know it's not everyone's favorite veg. They make a great taco filling though.

butternut squash toasts

Butternut Squash Toasts - I've seen this Jean-Georges Vongerichten invention pop up on restaurant menus from time to time, and it's worth ordering. It's also worth making at home. It's maybe more fall-ish than spring-y, so save it for later in the year. (Would make a great Thanksgiving app!)

Caponata is an Italian relish that uses celery, eggplant, and peppers, and it tastes great hot or cold. Spread it on a sandwich, serve it with fish or chicken, or use it to top crostini.

Cauliflower - I listed several cauliflower recipes in another post, so I won't repeat them here.

Celery Root Remoulade - Have you ever poked around in the produce section and wondered what the heck were those giant knobby bulbs that resemble alien brains? Celeriac is a kind of celery that has the appearance and texture of a root veg, with a mild celery-like flavor. It can be roasted and braised like a potato, but it's also delicious raw. Celery root remoulade is a classic French preparation that is super easy to make. Try it alongside crab cakes instead of the usual cole slaw.

Fried Green Tomato Caprese - In those rare summers when our tomato garden went crazy, we were eating the fruits both ripe and green. This recipe is gluten free, but use regular breadcrumbs if you prefer.

Gagooch, or Zucchini with Eggs - this is a childhood favorite of mine that couldn't be easier to make. And it's a great way to get rid of some of the inevitable abundance of summer squash.

Green Bean Falafel - what? this is heresy! Delicious, delicious heresy.

Mexican Street Corn, the Minx way, can be made all year long if you use frozen corn. I won't tell.

Minty Pea Pesto - put all your proliferating mint to use in this pesto made with sugar snap peas. There's a risotto recipe included on this page, too.

Nectarine Soup - have too many nectarines (or peaches)? Make this lovely soup, with crabmeat.

Peach Mostarda is another way to get rid of a plethora of stone fruits.

stone fruit crisp

Stone Fruit Crisp - Sadly, Mr Minx isn't a fan of cobblers, crisps, etc. Not so sadly, I have to consume the whole thing when I make one. 

Tomatoes make terrific tarts. And salads.

* 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. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

I Love Soup

Allegedly, to everything there is a season. Right now it's time for soup, though I'm the kind of person who enjoys it all year long. Maryland Crab in the summer is a must, but so is gazpacho and any other chilled soup. But when there's a nip in the air, my instinct is to toss things in a pot, add water, and a few hours later enjoy a hearty bowl of something that warms me from the inside. (When soup isn't possible, I use bourbon.) 

There are 30+ soup recipes on Minxeats, a dozen cold and the rest suitable for the current season. The simplest of hot soups doesn't need a recipe. To make it, you need aromatics (onions, leeks, shallots, garlic, carrots and/or celery), stock, bouillon, or broth, and seasonings. French onion soup, for example, only requires onions cooked low and slow in olive oil and butter, stock (beef or a rich chicken or veg), and seasonings (salt, pepper, sugar, bay leaf, thyme, a bit of wine). A topping of sliced baguette and Gruyere cheese and a few minutes under the broiler is totally optional (and a great way to burn your mouth, if you're into that sort of thing). Homemade tomato soup needs tomatoes, garlic or onion, stock, seasonings, and quick rendezvous with a stick blender. Or an actual blender, if you are adventurous. Hot liquids expand while blending and can blow the top off. To avoid the mess, remove the center rubber cap from the blender lid and hold a folded kitchen towel firmly over the opening. Or better yet, avoid hot soups and blenders. Unless you really want to clean the kitchen thoroughly afterward. (I love my 40-year-old Cuisinart Stick Blender!)

If you decide to try any of my recipes, please do leave a comment and let me know how it went.

-------------------------------------

Avocado Soup and Crab Salad There are other versions of both avocado soup and crab salad below, but they're not the same as the ones in this recipe. Feel free to mix and match; I can't tell you what to do in your own kitchen. I can try, but I know you won't listen.

avocado soup with chipotle shrimp and blue corn polenta croutons

Avocado Soup with Chipotle Shrimp and Blue Corn Polenta Croutons Feel free to leave out the croutons, or use purchased ones instead. 

Black Bean Soup I often make black bean soup with some sort of meat protein, but this version is vegetarian. Use non-dairy yogurt instead of sour cream and it's vegan.

Bloody Mary Gazpacho Gazpacho, with celery, Worcestershire, and...vodka.

broccoli cheese soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup This is unlike a typical broccoli cheese soup in that it's not the texture of wallpaper paste. It's thickened with a modicum of roux, and flavored with hard cider and roasted broccoli.

Cantaloupe Gazpacho Keep reading, and you'll see that I can make gazpacho out of anything.

Cauliflower Soup This simple recipe is from a Rocco DiSpirito cookbook. His non-diet book, so it's actually good.

celery root vichyssoise

Celery Root Vichyssoise Vichyssoise is traditionally made with potatoes, but it can be made with any starchy tuber or root. Celery root just happens to be one of the more delicious root vegs.

Coconut Gazpacho I don't know why I called this gazpacho. It's more of a chilled tomato soup with Thai seasonings and coconut milk.

Creamy Chilled Tomatillo Soup was reverse engineered from a dish at SoBo Cafe. Tomatillos can be pretty tart, so add more honey or agave syrup if you can't hang with the tang.

Creamy Chorizo, Chicken, and Corn Chowder If you've never cooked with Mexican chorizo, definitely pick some up. It's an annatto-bright and spicy raw sausage, not cured like Spanish chorizo, with a distinctive flavor and crumbly texture. It's not easy to locate, but I have found it at Asian markets like H Mart.

Creamy Parsnip Soup Parsnips are another tasty root veg that is under-utilized. This soup is easy and filling, but if you need more than a bowl of soup for dinner, make the bacon pie recipe included in this blog post.

creamy roasted vegetable gazpacho

Creamy Roasted Vegetable Gazpacho I was tasked to use up some cottage cheese and this was the result. Yes, it's good!

Creamy Tomato Peanut Soup My Dad used to make peanut soup when I was a kid. IIRC, it was pretty simple: onions; peanut butter; chicken stock. I loved it, but it was a little heavy. This one includes tomatoes and seasonings and is a little lighter on the palate, though just as tasty.

Edward Lee's Tomatillo Gazpacho This version of the chilled soup uses cooked vegetables that are cooled before pureeing. 

Gazpeacho aka peach gazpacho.

Green Gazpacho Tomatillos instead of tomatoes and a wee bit of yogurt make this one different.

Mashed Potato Soup Random leftovers tend to make pretty good soup. 

Mediterrasian Seafood Soup I've made many variations on this theme, based on a reverse-engineered dish I ate at a long-closed restaurant called Ixia. It's easy and delicious, but needs to be simmered for quite a while to guarantee that the flavors meld.

Mr Minx's Gumbo Soup Gumbo is usually more stew-like, thanks to thickeners like roux, filé powder, and okra. This batch came out rather more runny, but still had that lovely browned flour and Cajun spice flavor.

nectarine soup with crab salad

Nectarine Soup with Crab Salad This chilled soup is a little sweet, but the citrus dressing on the ceviche-like salad balances the dish nicely.

Polish Mushroom Soup Simple mushroom and potato deliciousness.

Red Cabbage Soup reminded me of my Grandma's barszcz, or Polish red beet soup. IYKYK.

Roasted Parsnip and Sweet Potato Soup I used white Japanese sweet potatoes, but you could use the easier-to-find red or orange ones instead. This would make a nice Thanksgiving starter.

Roasted Poblano Soup This is more of an appetizer soup than a full meal, but would work well as a side to a sandwich.

Spicy Corn Gazpacho This recipe calls for corn on the cob, which is cooked before blending. But you could use frozen corn kernels and skip the cooking part. Just make sure they are thawed before proceeding. And don't forget to strain the soup!

spicy fish soup

Spicy Fish Soup see Mediterrasian Seafood Soup above. Same base, different flavors. 

Spiced winter squash soup

Spiced Winter Squash Soup The cumin/coriander/cinnamon/paprika/cayenne mixture is fairly common in the southern Mediterranean cuisines and goes beautifully with mellow and slightly sweet winter squash.

Strawberry Gazpacho Strawberries stand in for tomatoes in this version, with balsamic in place of the usual sherry vinegar.

Thai Avocado Soup Apparently I like making soup with avocados. This one has that bright/sweet/ garlicky/ fishy/funky thing that reminds me of one of my favorite Thai dishes, drunken noodles.

tomato garlic parm soup

Tomato Garlic Parm Soup This is a copycat recipe of a dish served at my favorite Cajun restaurant, Cajun Kate's, though it's not quite as decadent as theirs.

White Bean and Kale Soup While there's a classic Italian soup that stars these two ingredients, this version is a pastiche of leftovers + freezer staples that is a bit different.

* 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. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Street Cauliflower - Sponsored Post

Is there any such thing as "street cauliflower" for reals? I had it at Baltimore-area restaurant La Food Marketa and loved it. A riff on a Mexican street food dish commonly made with corn and known as elote (on the cob) or esquites (off the cob), LFM's version topped cauliflower with cotija cheese, taco spice, and chili lime mayo. A tortilla crumble was employed for a much-needed texture contrast. When I got home that evening, I realized that I was in possession of a cauliflower and could easily make a riff on this dish at home. 

My pantry is currently stocked with food samples after a trip to NYC for the Summer Fancy Food Show. Among them are products from Runamok Maple and Olivia's Croutons. Normally when I make esquites, I whip up a little sauce with mayo, sour cream or yogurt, chipotle, lots of lime, and a bit of maple or agave syrup to balance out the tangy flavors. It's reminiscent of the sauce the late, lamented Gypsy Queen food trucks used on their crab cake tacos, and I've made it numerous times. This time, I omitted both the sweet stuff and the chipotle and drizzled Runamok's Chipotle Morita honey directly onto the cauliflower. (And then I had a spoonful of it for a "cook's treat.") It has a nice balance of rich honeyed sweetness and smoky chipotle heat, and I can see myself using it in a lot of applications, both savory and sweet. 

I didn't have any tortilla chips on hand, If I had, I wasn't inclined to do anything other than bash them into bits--forget making a crumble. But I did have a box of Olivia's Cornbread Dressing! The cubes of crisp cornbread are seasoned lightly with somewhat Thanksgiving-y herbs, but after sampling a few several, I determined that they wouldn't detract from the overall Mexican-ish flavors of the dish at all. 

I hesitate to supply a recipe, since I just winged it (wung it?) as I usually do. I'll just offer guidelines, since I know many people prefer a recipe, or at least a list of ingredients.

Street Cauliflower

1 whole cauliflower (or hell, a bag of frozen cauliflower)

Salt

Full-fat plain yogurt or sour cream

Mayonnaise

Chili powder

Lime

Crumbly tangy cheese, like cotija or feta

Runamok Maple Chipotle Morita infused honey

Olivia's Cornbread Dressing

Cilantro

Chopped green onion or slivers of red onion

Trim the stem and any green leaves off the cauliflower. Cook in your favorite method. I put it, whole, in a big pot with enough salted water to come up about halfway, brought it to a boil, then turned down the heat and covered the pot. When the fork was tender most of the way through when I stuck a knife into it, I took it off the heat and drained off the water. You could also separate the florets, toss them with a little olive oil and salt, and roast them in a 400F oven until they're a texture you like. Or just pop a bag of frozen cauliflower in a microwave-safe bowl, cover it, and nuke it until hot and tender.

While the cauliflower is cooking, make the yogurt sauce. Put a half cup or so of sour cream or yogurt in a bowl. Add a heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise (or leave it out, if you prefer). Add chili powder to taste - start with a teaspoon, mix it in well, and add more if you want. Then squeeze in some lime juice. Taste, add more lime, add more chili powder, etc. until it tastes pretty good. Then add the magic flavor enhancer - salt. Not too much. Just enough to bring out the flavors of everything you just put in. If you happen to use a salted Mexican-type seasoning rather than chili powder, then ixnay on extra sodium. You could use Tajin and leave out the lime, too, unless you want more tang. It's up to you. 

Pile the cauliflower on a plate. You could put some salsa down on the plate first, like I did, but it's totally optional. (I had half a jar of tomatillo salsa that I didn't want to go to waste.) Dollop with the lime yogurt, drizzle on the honey, sprinkle on the cheese, crushed cornbread croutons, cilantro, and onions. 

Serves 2 as an entree, 4-6 as a side, dependent on one's appreciation for cauliflower.

* 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. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Creamy Chorizo, Chicken, and Corn Chowder

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on February 17, 2014.

-----------------------------------------

Nothing hits the spot on a frigid winter day like a bowl of soup. Especially a hearty soup made with a bunch of stuff that I usually keep on hand: frozen chicken thighs, chicken, and corn; canned tomatoes and chipotles; and chicken stock. A loaf of freshly baked bread is the perfect accompaniment.

If you don't have chicken, chunks of beef stew meat would work well, just cook the soup longer to ensure the meat is tender, adding additional stock if necessary.

Creamy Chorizo, Chicken, and Corn Chowder

2 links Mexican chorizo
1 cup chopped onion
salt
3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 chipotle en adobe, plus 1 teaspoon of adobo sauce
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes and their juice
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 large red potato, peeled and diced
1/4 cup heavy cream or half and half
honey (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Remove chorizo from casing and place in a 3-quart pot along with the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the onion is translucent and the sausage has browned and broken into small pieces. (There should be more than enough oil in the sausage to cook the onion without burning; if you have some weird super lean chorizo, add a dribble of oil.)

Stir in the chicken and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer translucent. Add the chipotle, tomatoes, stock, and corn. Bring mixture to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer soup for 45-60 minutes, until chicken is very tender. Add potato and cook an additional 10-15 minutes, until potato is done to your liking.

Pour in the half and half and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning and add a bit of honey if you think the soup needs some sweetness (I did) and add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 2-4

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Guan Fu

I have always loved Chinese food and can still remember the taste of my very first shrimp in black bean sauce. I was on a "date" with my Dad. My mother had shooed us out of the house so she could have some quiet time with my newly-born baby brother; this makes me about 5 at the time. I had already eaten plenty of American-style Chinese food by that age, but the piquancy of the fermented black beans was a new flavor to me. And I liked it.

Sichuan food appeared on my table sometime in the late 70s, and though may palate was not yet accustomed to heat, I appreciated that the flavors and ingredients used were a bit different from the usual celery, onions, and starchy sauces used in familiar dishes like moo goo gai pan and chow mein. Though the Sichuan and Hunan dishes I ate in my youth were quite different from the ones I ate as a small child, they were still fairly Americanized.

In 2018, there doesn't seem to be as many Chinese restaurants in Baltimore as there used to be. Certainly no good ones (I am sure someone will be happy to argue that point). I've had a hard time finding even mediocre food in my neck of the woods. Thankfully, there is some really good Chinese food to be had outside of Baltimore. I've spoken here many times of my love for Grace Garden in Odenton, and for Hunan Taste in Catonsville. Asian Court in Ellicott City is my place for dim sum. And of course there are plenty of places in Montgomery County, which is a bit of a hike. Chinese food has gone from being a regular weeknight meal to something for a special occasion, but that makes me appreciate it all the more.

New Yorkers, however, don't have to struggle to find really fine Chinese food from many different regions of that vast country. There's a Michelin-starred Sichuan restaurant in Midtown, for god's sake, not to mention the five locations of Xi'am Famous Foods! Flushing, Queens, a half hour subway ride from Midtown, is rife with Chinese restaurants, which made it a bucket list destination for me.

My friend Daisy knew I wanted to eat good Chinese food when I was in NY, so she took me to Guan Fu, in Flushing. The New York Times gave it three stars, which normally doesn't happen to non-European ethnic restaurants. It had to be good, right?

And it was.

The restaurant is full of dark wood, with large tables to hold ample feasts. There are also comfortable wide chairs--which easily accommodate ample posteriors, like mine. The menu has photographs of every dish, which is nice, but only makes one's choice more difficult. Everything looks great.

Daisy had eaten at Guan Fu before, and had tasted a good deal of the menu. I was happy to let her decide what we would eat. Or over-eat, as the case may be. We ordered five dishes, and did a pretty good job of finishing almost everything. It helped that only two of the dishes contained meat, and only one as the star of the dish, but none of them were small.

Dishes were served family-style, arriving at the table in the order in which the kitchen finished preparing them. The bean jelly noodle salad is served cold, so that came to the table quickly. It was spicy yet refreshing, the gelatinous texture of the noodles holding a chill quite well--much appreciated on a day that had reached 98°F.

The Guan Fu style fried yolk corn was perhaps the most intriguing and unfamiliar dish. It was also the largest. The giant plate contained a mountain of fried corn kernels dusted in dried egg yolk; they were both sweet and salty, with a crisp-tender texture that made them a perfect snack. Except eating this dish was slow going, as chopsticks made it difficult to pick up more than one kernel at a time.

Speaking of chopsticks, Guan Fu has a novel approach to them. Rather than using coarse wooden disposable chopsticks, or plastic ones that require washing, they use chopstick handles with replaceable wooden tips. The tips come in little paper packages, which the diner removes before screwing the tips into place. This way they use much less wood and paper than traditional disposable sticks, and there's no doubt that the tips are sanitary.

We also ordered Chinese black fungus in Guan Fu sauce, a quite spicy (three chile peppers, according to the menu) dish of snappy-textured mushrooms (also called wood ears, commonly used in moo shu preparations) with raw onion and chiles in a clear, ginger-forward, sauce.

Our lone meat dish was a stir fry of chicken with Sichuan prickly ash. Prickly ash is a member of the citrus family, which explains why Sichuan peppercorns--which are actually buds--are somewhat lemony in flavor. Oh, and they have a numbing quality, too, with which those who have tried them are familiar. The combination of Sichuan pepper numbing and chile pepper heat is known as ma la, and this chicken dish was loaded with it--but not in an uncomfortable way. There were also bits of crispy potato and even crispier lotus root in the dish, which added some textural contrast.

My favorite dish was the dumplings, which, oddly enough, appeared in the dessert section of the menu. I have been looking for a dish of dumplings in hot chile oil like the one served at a place called Szechuan Best, in Randallstown. We went there semi-regularly in the 80s, and I had to get the dumplings every time. The sauce was hot and oily and redolent of five spice. I think. It's been a long time, but I would know the flavor if I tasted it again. The dumplings at Guan Fu were not the same, though the delicate wrappers filled with pork seemed somewhat similar. The sauce, however, was its own thing. No five spice, and actually quite mild to my palate, but eminently slurpable. Now that I think back on it, I can understand how their relative mildness (only two chile peppers) might be a relief after eating an otherwise highly-spiced meal.

Overall, I liked Guan Fu. I think it's on par with Grace Garden and Hunan Taste, and I'm happy to have been able to compare them so favorably. However, each restaurant has its own personality. I'd definitely like to go back to Guan Fu and get to know it better.

Guan Fu
39-16 Prince St g01
Flushing, NY 11354
http://guanfuny.com/

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Enchiladas Elegante

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on June 14, 2013.
----------------------------------

Last month, we purchased a 5-lb bag of masa flour and used a whole two cups of it for this recipe. There was (and is) still plenty left, and I was looking for things to do with it besides making corn tortillas (which I have not yet done as I do not own a tortilla press). While noodling around online, I found a recipe for corn crepes. I love crepes, and they are pretty easy to make, so the next step was to figure out how to fill them.

I consulted a copy of Rick Bayless' Authentic Mexican for ideas (not that I planned to be authentic in the least) and settled on a green chile sauce with chicken. Only I didn't have any fresh chiles and didn't feel like slogging through the humidity to the grocery store to pick some up. I did have cilantro, and canned tomatillos, and why can't a chipotle en adobo stand in for its unsmoked cousin? I also found a can of mild green chiles in the cupboard, and threw those in too.

Since I was making crepes, which seem somewhat fancy, I figured I might as well make the presentation as elegant as possible, hence the chive garter. Fancy or no, they tasted muy bueno.

Enchiladas Elegante

green enchilada sauce (recipe follows)
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
masa crepes (recipe follows)
long chives
toasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

Add chicken to prepared enchilada sauce and cook over low heat until warmed through.

If crepes have been refrigerated, allow them to sit at room temperature for an hour or so. Place a few tablespoons of the chicken mixture in the middle of a crepe. Fold up the bottom, then fold the sides over diagonally, so the crepe is fan-shaped and the chicken mixture can be seen through the wide end. Slip a chive under the middle of the crepe and tie it in a knot to hold the crepe closed. Trim the chives to a reasonable length.

Garnish with pepitas.

Masa Crepes

½ cup masa flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk

Pour all the ingredients into a blender and blend until well combined.

Place a bit of butter in a non-stick skillet and heat to medium-high. Ladle in some batter, swirling the pan to spread into a thin layer. Cook until the top looks dry and the edges are brown. Flip and cook the other side for about 45 seconds. One side will be much darker than the other. Repeat for the rest of the batter, omitting the buttering of the pan (the batter has plenty of butter in it). Keep crepes separated with sheets of waxed paper. Cover finished crepes with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use, up to overnight.

Makes about 10 8" crepes, depending on how many you mess up. (The first two are almost always casualties until you get the hang of it.)

Green Enchilada Suiza Sauce (roughly adapted from Authentic Mexican)

1 12-oz can whole tomatillos
1 4-oz can green chiles
1 small onion, roughly chopped
1 handful of cilantro leaves and stems, roughly chopped
1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 chipotle pepper in adobo, seeded and roughly chopped (or use 1 or two fresh jalapenos)
1 tablespoon cooking oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup sour cream

Drain tomatillos and place them in the jar of a blender along with the chiles, onion, cilantro, garlic, and chipotle. Blend to a puree.

Heat the cooking oil in a sauce pot until a drop of puree sizzles madly. Pour in the tomatillo mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture darkens and begins to reduce, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and add the cup of chicken stock. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir in sour cream.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

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.

Maryland Dogs

Upstate New York's Hofmann Sausage Company has been around since 1879 but only started expanding their market in 2013. If you haven't heard of them yet, they're still working their way through the Maryland area. They have, however, partnered with University of Maryland Athletics to create a special "Maryland Dog." I didn't think their recipe was Maryland-centric at all (but should probably have cut them some slack since they're not local). In any case, they sent me vouchers for free hot dogs so I could develop my own Maryland Dog.

I found that Harris Teeter sells Hofmann products, but the one at Canton Crossing only had the German Brand Frankfurters. They are made with pork, beef, and veal, and are stuffed in a natural lamb casing. They are smooth-textured with a snappy bite and a nice mild flavor that was absolutely perfect to pair with crab. For what is Maryland cuisine without crab?

My first idea was to top a frank with cold crab dip and a little tomato for color. Mr Minx felt that corn needed to be an essential element in the topping as well, but I didn't want to muddle the crab dip with another ingredient. So we made a crab salad using both tomato and corn. The corn we charred a bit so the topping would have all the colors of the Maryland flag: gold, black, red, and white (from the mayo used to bind the ingredients). We used claw meat, because it has extra crabby flavor and is less expensive than lump, but if you're not on a budget, by all means use lump crab in both recipes.

The cold crab dip on Maryland Dog #1 warmed up nicely when it came in contact with the hot dog, and the creaminess was a nice foil to the snappy casing. The bit of tomato brightened the flavors and added a pop of color to the otherwise pink palette. Maryland Dog #2 was just as tasty but had a lot more texture. I'm not sure which I preferred, but I will say that I very much enjoyed the hot dog itself. We normally buy Nathan's or Hebrew National, both of which have strong garlic and spice flavors that would probably overpower the delicate flavors of crab. The Hofmann dog, however, was nice and mild, and worked beautifully.

Tailgate season may be over, at least here in Maryland, but baseball starts up in a little over 2 months! Time to make a batch of crab dip and put it on a hot dog.

Maryland Dog with Crab Dip

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoons full-fat plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons cocktail sauce
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 scallions, chopped
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
3 ounces crab meat, preferably claw
4 Hofmann German Brand Frankfurters
4 potato rolls
1 small tomato, seeded and diced

Stir together the first 9 ingredients (cream cheese through crab meat) until combined. Chill until ready to use.

Cook frankfurters in your favorite method (boiling, pan frying, microwaving). Place franks into buns. Top with dollops of the crab dip mixture and sprinkle on a row of tomato. Top with a sprinkle of Old Bay, if desired.

Serves 4.

Maryland Dog with Crab Salad

1 ear of corn, with husk and silk removed
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
Dash lemon juice
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
4 ounces crab meat, preferably claw
2 small or one large tomato, seeded and diced
4 Hofmann German Brand Frankfurters
4 potato rolls

Place the corn cob directly over a gas flame or on a grill, turning regularly, until charred in spots. If using a grill, move the corn over indirect heat to finish cooking for 5 minutes. If using a gas stove, microwave the corn for a few minutes until tender. Allow the corn to cool before cutting the kernels off the cob. Set aside.

Stir the Old Bay and lemon juice into the mayonnaise. Fold in the crab meat, the cooled corn, and half the tomato. Taste for seasoning and add a pinch of salt, if desired.

Cook frankfurters in your favorite method (boiling, pan frying, microwaving). Place franks into buns. Top with dollops of the crab salad mixture and sprinkle on a row of tomato. Top with a sprinkle of Old Bay, if desired.

* 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. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Maryland's Chesapeake

Mr Minx and I spent much of last year writing a book - Maryland's Chesapeake, How the Bay and Its Bounty Shaped a Cuisine. We're happy to announce that it is finally available for purchase! Today, August 1, is the official release date, so hopefully your MD-area bookstores have received it. If not, and you're not averse to making online purchases, Amazon and Barnes & Noble are both stocking Maryland's Chesapeake.

Both the fauna in the Chesapeake and the flora around it have greatly influenced the cuisine of Maryland. The Bay has sustained numerous generations of people, from the Native Americans to the British colonists to today's diverse population. Every summer, we look forward to the sweet corn, tomatoes and strawberries that are grown along the Chesapeake's shores. Long have we enjoyed the oysters, crabs, and rockfish from its waters. While Maryland's Chesapeake celebrates these delicious creatures, we hope it also serves as a reminder that unless we take steps to rejuvenate their populations and control pollution, eventually there may not be any of them left to eat.

We hope to announce signing events in the near future, so stay tuned.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

The French Kitchen at the Lord Baltimore Hotel

A few years back, the restaurant at the Lord Baltimore Hotel hired a French chef and named their restaurant The French Kitchen. The French chef is gone, but there's still a wire-framed replica of the Eiffel Tower in the dining room and a few French touches on the menu. Recently, the Minx and I were invited to a media dinner to try out some of The French Kitchen's latest offerings.

Of course, we had to start off with a cocktail or three. We were intrigued by the custom cocktail called the Lavender Martini. It consists of Hendricks gin, St. Germaine, lavender simple syrup, and a twist of lemon peel. The gin is hardly noticeable (which is a good thing to me) and the elderflower liqueur and lavender syrup provide a floral, almost perfume-y punch, brightened by the oil of the lemon peel. Quite refreshing for summer.

Our first course was an "amuse-bouche" of fried green tomatoes. I put the designation in quotes because it was more than one bite and could be classified as a small plate item. Nevertheless, it was delicious. Expecting a crumbed preparation, I was surprised by the crunchy beer batter coating on the tomato slices. This fried goodness was complemented by a spicy remoulade and shreds of smoky country ham. A sprinkling of corn and bell pepper added another textural element while soothing my conscience with the notion that this could be considered a healthy dish.

For appetizers, the Minx selected the pork belly while I opted for the shrimp and corn chowder. The thick slice of tender pork belly was well-seared and topped with plumped dried cherries. It was served with a slaw of jicama, apple, carrots, and cabbage, dressed with the distinct flavors of champagne vinegar and cardamom. My shrimp and corn chowder was rich and redolent of corn. Bits of carrot and celery swam with the tasty shrimp.

Our entree selections betrayed our Maryland roots as I ordered the crab cakes and the Minx ordered the rockfish. The horseradish-crusted wild rockfish was partnered with broiled tomatoes somewhat reminiscent of the stewed variety, a old-fashioned favorite of the Minx. Along with the "wilted heritage greens" (which sure tasted like romaine lettuce to her) and Dijon sauce, she felt that it could pass as a French riff on an Eastern Shore dinner.

At the urging of our waitress, I chose the crab cakes. She told us they were made with Maryland blue crab and were so popular that people came in from out of town just to eat them. Having the local meat makes a huge difference in flavor, and the cakes were mildly seasoned to allow it to shine through. However, the Minx felt they had a bit too much filler. The accompanying melange of fava beans, corn, red bell pepper, and asparagus was a pleasant addition.

The dessert offerings were probably the most French aspect of our meal, or at least my profiteroles were. The dainty puffs of choux pastry were filled with icy cold vanilla gelato, served with a rich chocolate fudge sauce, and made for a decadent finale to the meal.

The Minx's pavlova had chunks of meringue surfing on a bed of berries, fruit, and lemon curd. The bright fruit flavors made for a very summery dish and the meringue tasted slightly of almonds.

The French Kitchen may be leaning more toward New American cuisine than the Continental influences implied by its namesake, but the dishes are quite sophisticated and satisfying. You might also want to check out the breathtaking view from the hotel's LB Skybar on the 19th floor before or after your meal.

The French Kitchen at the Lord Baltimore Hotel
20 West Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-539-8400

Posted on Minxeats.com.