Lamb Charcuterie - Sponsored Post

I grew up eating ham. My maternal grandfather worked for Esskay, a Baltimore-area company that produced hot dogs, sausages, and various other meat products. Even after he retired, the company continued to send us a ham for Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas until Grandpa's death in 1979. Ham deli meat (imported, please, chipped into the thinnest shards) between slices of rye bread with iceberg lettuce and Thousand Island dressing was my regular childhood lunch (with a side of Funyuns). By the time I was a teenager, I was honestly sick. of. ham. 

Now that I'm firmly into adulthood---tbh, on the slippery slope to old age--ham is very rarely on the menu. Certainly not for the holidays. A ham has never been in my oven (not a euphemism). 

Sure, I buy fancy ham sometimes, the raw stuff like prosciutto or Serrano. It's nothing like the flabby, water-logged, ham of my youth. I figured if I never ate pre-cooked ham again, I'd be ok. 

And then I discovered Lamb Ham. Aussie Select's Agave Rosemary and Tikka Masala hams, to be specific. This woman-owned business, based in Marietta, Georgia, was kind enough to send me samples of both products, and I have to admit I was blown away. I honestly had no idea that tender and lean Australian lamb could be turned into a ham-like product. It tastes very much like pork ham, but it's also unmistakably lamb. Unlike most sliced pork ham products, Aussie Select's hams have what I would call gentle flavor. In other words, they're not salt bombs. I used slices of the Agave Rosemary(my favorite) on both a charcuterie plate and in a grilled cheese sandwich, and was pleased at the way it stood out against the various saltier elements.

I thought I'd use the Tikka Masala ham in a completely different way: as a wrap for fresh asparagus. Typically, a dish like that would use a stickier and stretchier ham product like prosciutto, or one that is overall sturdier, like a deli ham (which is more of a Franken-meat, made of patched-together pork pieces). Lamb is a more delicate meat than pork, so my slices fell apart during the process of wrapping the asparagus. No worries (mate!), I simply did not turn the asparagus in the oven to prevent the ham from falling off. Eventually, the ham shrank to fit, and I had no problems getting the asparagus off the baking sheet and onto a plate.

I wanted to emphasize the Indian-inspired flavor of the ham by using a little bit of a sweet glaze, but opted instead to make a post-oven drizzle of mango chutney and mayo. And because I enjoy ALL the textures, I made a nut topping. This dish had it all--sweet and juicy fat asparagus, a lovely cured lamb with intriguing spices, a sweet and creamy touch, and something to crunch. I think this would make an elegant appetizer, but we Minxes enjoyed it as a main course.

Lamb Ham-wrapped Asparagus

For the asparagus

6 slices of Aussie Select Tikka Masala Lamb Ham

12 fat asparagus spears, tough ends snapped or cut off 

Extra virgin olive oil

Freshly cracked black pepper

Kosher salt

For the sauce

2 T mango chutney

1 T mayonnaise

A squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Salt

For crunchy topping

3 T chopped toasted nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews - I used hazelnuts)

1 T hemp seeds

1/4 t nigella seeds (also known as kalonji, charnushka, or black cumin, a tiny, vaguely oniony-tasting, seed and one of my favorite seasonings--optional)

To make the asparagus: Preheat oven to 425F. Line a large baking sheet with foil.

Carefully tease apart the slices of ham; they will tear. Divide the slices in half as best you can--not only will they tear, they'll tear unevenly. Wrap each half slice around an asparagus spear and carefully place them on the baking sheet. Make sure the spears aren't touching. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the asparagus and ham, and sprinkle a tiny bit of salt on just the asparagus. 

Place the tray in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. You will not be able to turn the spears, as the ham will fall off. But after 20 minutes, the ham will shrink and cling somewhat to the asparagus. If the asparagus still seems too crunchy, and the ham isn't too brown, you can leave it in the oven for an additional 5 or so minutes (I like tender asparagus).

To make the sauce: While the asparagus is cooking, combine the chutney and mayo in a small bowl or ramekin. Add a bit of lemon juice to taste. You want to be able to drizzle the sauce, so thin it out with a little bit of water...a couple teaspoons-ish. Taste again to make sure it still tastes like chutney. Add the barest pinch of salt and taste again. It should still seem sweet, with a hint of lemon. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To make the topping: Combine the nuts and seeds in a small dish. Set aside.

To serve: Using tongs, remove the spears to a serving dish. Drizzle with sauce and sprinkle with nuts. 

Serves 2-3 as a side or appetizer.

* 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.

Empellon

I was in New York recently where I embarked on an eating expedition with my intrepid friend, the fabulous Daisy Bow. Together we ate a number of delicious things that I will write about later. Right now, I want to talk about a restaurant I visited on my own: Empellon, in midtown Manhattan. 

Empellon is one of five Mexican-inspired restaurants by former pastry chef Alex Stupak. I dined at Stupak's 4th Street Taqueria in 2015, and had been pretty pleased with the food. In reading back over that post, I discovered that I had tasted one of today's dishes in the past. Was it as good as it was 7 years ago? Read on, friends, read on.

After eating mostly inexpensive comestibles over my last few trips to NY, I thought I might treat myself to something pricier. Several of the most memorable meals I've eaten in New York were at high end restaurants--Babbo in 2004, A Voce in 2012, The Bar Room at The Modern in 2011, and Le Bernardin in 2014. In each case, while the food was very good (excellent at times), the service was exceptional. And that was truly what made each meal magical. Rather than magical, my meal at Empellon was meh.

The $42 3-course prix fixe menu sounded good to me, and I started with the "lobster salad with chilled masa savarin." The salad incurred an upcharge of $4 but this was a splurge so I splurged. I'm not sure if there was a mistake on the menu, or if the kitchen doesn't know what a "savarin" is, but what I received was not a ring-shaped, booze-soaked, yeasted cake. It had more of a custard-like texture. Perhaps it was actually a sabayon, firmed up with gelatin (in which case it was no longer a sabayon)? Or a type of savory flan? In any case, it was ring-shaped, and it was flavored with masa. The center of the ring contained a spicy sauce of unknown origin. And around the mysterious custard-like object were corn kernels, slices of not particularly spicy capsicums, raw onion, and nuggets of lobster. On the whole, it was a tasty dish, though it was a tad overseasoned.

On the opposite end of the spectrum were the pastrami tacos with sauerkraut and mustard seed salsa. Back in 2015, I bartered one of my brussels sprout tacos for one of my husband's pastrami-filled ones and was delighted by the flavors. This time, not so much. The beef was tough and underseasoned, the sauerkraut was barely tangy, much less sour, and the mustard seed salsa provided nothing but texture. The meat in the second taco had a bit of fat, which made it more palatable, but the dish was pretty bland overall. Where was the peppercorn-and-coriander hit from the meat? Why was soggy cabbage considered sauerkraut? Why was this dish more sad than clever?

And here I must ding the service at Empellon. Generally, at a restaurant with these prices where food is not served family-style, I expect courses to arrive serially. However, I was about 2/3 of the way through my lobster salad when a runner appeared with my tacos. This put me in the position of having to decide between finishing my lobster dish before starting my tacos, as god intended, or to start on the tacos so they wouldn't get cold. But that might signal the wait staff to attempt to wrest my unfinished lobster away, which would earn them a literal slap on the wrist. Meanwhile, my waiter or captain or whatever one calls them these days (they do not serve, they merely take orders), was standing off to the side, gazing upon the dining room as might an overlord. Did he notice that my entree course was fired too soon? Did he care? I know he knew I wasn't dining on an expense account and may well have been...a tourist! (horrors!) but I think he could have been more solicitous. 

For dessert, which came at the proper time, I had the sour cherry flan with chicory caramel and a cup of decaf. The flan was fine. Not as good as my friend Melinda's flan, but then nobody's is. I enjoyed the sour cherry topping, but couldn't really pick out the chicory in the sauce. But it was fine. 

When he presented the check, I noticed that Mon Capitaine did not charge me for the coffee. He nodded when I pointed out his omission, rather than thank me. Which would have been below his station. 

Positives about the meal: the dining room was full of natural light and the seating was comfortable. The portion size was just right for someone not planning to eat again for the rest of the day (like me), but I imagine the 3-course lunch might be a bit much for someone going back to the office. The lobster was perfectly cooked, the tortillas were sturdy and didn't disintegrate under the weight of the generous portion of meat, and the cherry flavor of the flan was quite nice. But still--a solid meh.

It's less-than-perfect meals like these, however, that really allow me to appreciate an exemplary one. Or even just a good one. 

Empellon
510 Madison Avenue, 

New York, NY 10022 

(212) 380-1215

* 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.

Pastrami Sandwich Pasta

Despite only just learning how to make homemade pasta, I'm now getting fancy with it. I have found that I prefer forming pasta by hand than rolling it out with Kitchen Aid attachments. For one thing, I can sit while I'm working rather than stand in front of the counter, and my bad back appreciates that. For another thing, I find it more suited to my creative mind. Hand-forming pasta shapes is almost like making edible beads. (For those who don't know, I have a jewelry business on the side.)

A couple of weeks ago, I tried making cavatelli for the first time, with the help of Mr Minx. It worked out so well, I decided to buy one of those little grooved paddles used to make gnocchi and tried making malloreddus, aka Sardinian gnocchi. Only malloreddus are made with semolina, and mine are not; technically I have no idea what the things I made are called. Someone on Instagram suggested "gnocchi" or "gnocchetti," but doesn't that normally bring to mind the pasta commonly made with potato?

So what did I do to cause myself so much nomenclatural consternation? I used rye flour. And all-purpose wheat flour. And some ground caraway seeds. You see, I wanted them to taste like rye bread. I was feeling all clever and decided that rye pasta needed a mustard cream sauce and pastrami.

I would have preferred to use pastrami from a real Jewish deli, but I didn't feel like making a special trip. Boar's Head, Dietz and Watson, et. al., are just not the same thing, but they were as close as I was going to get. If you can get real pastrami (or corned beef), then by all means use the good stuff! As for the mustard cream sauce, I used a combination of spicy brown mustard and dried mustard, but you can use whatever you prefer in whatever amounts most please your palate. I used about a quarter cup of liquid mustard. YMMV. I had some smoked mozzarella in the fridge that I put on top, but I'm betting Swiss would be great and fit with the theme nicely.

Overall, I was pretty happy with the way the dish turned out and thought I'd share the recipe guidelines with you. Enjoy!

Pastrami Sandwich Pasta

For the pasta:
1.5 cups finely milled rye flour (I used Arrowhead Mills)
1.5 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon caraway seeds, ground to a powder in a spice mill
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
About 1 cup water

For the sauce:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
Spicy brown mustard
Mustard powder
Sherry vinegar
1/4 lb pastrami, chopped
Cheese of your choice (I used cubed smoked mozzarella)
Parsley for garnish
Additional caraway seeds (optional)

To make the pasta: Place flours, ground seeds, and olive oil in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add most of the water and turn on the machine. After a few turns of the hook and scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula, check to see if the mixture seems too dry. If that's the case, add more water. If you add too much, the dough will make an unpleasant squishy slapping sound in the mixer.  Never fear! That can be fixed by adding more rye flour until the dough seems dryer yet holds together. (It is better to err on the side of dry than of wet.) Remove the dough from the bowl to a board and give it a few kneads. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Flour a cutting board and prepare some baking sheets with parchment. Give them a generous dusting of semolina or regular flour to prevent sticking. If you have a grooved gnocchi board, give that a light dusting, too. If you don't have one, don't worry about it; you'll just be making cavatelli instead.

Remove the rested dough from the fridge. Cut off small pieces of the dough and roll them into snakes that are a bit less than half an inch wide. Cut the snake into pieces about an inch long. Take each piece and roll into a hot-dog shape by pressing it with your first two fingers and rolling it toward yourself. A video really helps:


I actually use my thumb and roll the pasta away from me, but whatever works!

Place the pasta on the prepared baking sheets and toss with the flour. Repeat until all of the dough is used up.

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until the pieces float and stay there, 3-8 minutes, depending on the size of the pasta. Reserve a bit of the cooking water to thin the sauce, if necessary.

To make the sauce: Heat the oil over medium heat and add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until translucent. Sprinkle onion with the flour and stir to combine. Let to cook a few moments before adding the cream. I wanted my sauce to be obviously mustardy, so I added about 1/4 cup of the brown mustard and a good teaspoon of the dried mustard, plus a few teaspoons of sherry vinegar to add the requisite tang. You may feel the brown mustard alone does the trick, so I suggest seasoning to your taste. Add half the pastrami to the sauce.

Toss the cooked pasta in the sauce, using reserved cooking liquid if the sauce seems too thick. Serve pasta topped with more of the pastrami, a bit of cheese, and some parsley. A sprinkle of caraway too, if you're as fond of the flavor as I am.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Mission Chinese Food

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on July 26, 2013.
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Korean-born, Oklahoma-raised Danny Bowien is one of the hottest properties around. In 2011, Mission Chinese Food, in San Francisco, was named one of Bon Appetit's best new restaurants, and now he's featured in the July 2013 issue of Food & Wine as one of the country's best new chefs.

The New York branch of Mission Chinese Food opened in 2012, and I've read nothing but raves. (Ok, there have been some bellyaching on Yelp, but that's to be expected.) On my recent trip to New York, I planned to be in the vicinity (SoHo) and thought it would make a great spot for lunch.

Turns out lunch is the best time to visit Mission Chinese Food. I got there a few minutes before the opening time of noon and there was already a short line. (At dinner time, the tiny restaurant's line, and, consequently, the wait, is far longer.) After a brief amount of time, I was taken to the dining room and, as I was a lone diner, given a seat at the bar, where all of the servers were incredibly nice and attentive to my needs.

Mission Chinese is famous for their spicy "Americanized Oriental food" with dishes like kung pao pastrami and thrice-cooked bacon. Both of those entrees have two flame symbols next to them on the menu, which according to the legend means "very freakin spicy." It was very hot and humid in New York and I had already done my fair share of sweating, so I figured one-flame spicy was about as hot as I wanted to go. I ordered two dishes from the hot appetizer section of the menu, the shaved pork belly with soy caramel, garlic, and Sichuan pepper, and the salt and peppered soft shell crab with buttermilk ranch dressing.

The menu suggests that the pork belly needs an accompaniment of a la carte rice, so I shelled out the additional $2 for a bowl. I suppose that was a warning to me that the dish was very spicy, but I chose not to heed that warning, instead putting faith in the fact that the dish had only one flame symbol. Dummy.

The dish was served cold, rather than hot, but that did not detract from the flavors and textures of this dish. The shavings of pork belly were meltingly tender. The sauce was a darkly-flavored melange of garlic, caramelized soy, maybe some Chingkaing vinegar, with some raw garlic on top for good measure. And it was full of the sensation the Chinese call ma la - numbing and spicy. There was so much Sichuan peppercorn in the dish, my nose went numb after a few forkfuls. What was worse, the dish was firey as I was eating it, of course, but when I attempted to put out the flames with the rice, it only served to fan them even higher. So the rice was a big bomb. What I needed was a glass of milk. If I drank milk.

The soft shell crab was much milder, provided I didn't eat any of the slices of green chile pepper scattered on top. It was a tad too salty though. I can't fault the crisp texture of the crust, or the ranch dressing, which tasted like tartar sauce, if tartar sauce were made with buttermilk.

There was a large party at the table next to the bar and they ordered a great many delicious-looking dishes. I heard several times, "this is really spicy," and have to wonder why restaurants make food hot just for the sake of making things hot. Some of us enjoy a nice bit of heat, but we're not all "chile-heads."

Senses completely overloaded, I headed out once more into the incredible humidity, in search for something cooling, like ice cream.

Mission Chinese Food
154 Orchard St
New York, NY 10002
http://missionchinesefood.com 



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Eating Las Vegas: Part Three, Day Four

I was reminded of this trip recently, and thought I'd share (again).

--Kathy

This post was originally published on January 13, 2006.
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Eating Las Vegas: Part Three, Day Four

So why do I skip from day two to day four? Well, day three was spent on a 17-hour bus extravaganza to the Grand Canyon, and lunch consisted of a buffet somewhere in West Bumblefuck, Arizona, and dinner was a sandwich from a Subway in Kingman. Nothing worth writing about.

Day four, however, was my birthday. Our plans consisted of wandering through more casinos, souvenir shopping, and dinner at Mesa Grill. But first, lunch.

Lunch
My Dad had been all excited about a pastrami sandwich he ate in a chain deli called Jason's. He rhapsodized over the flavor so much, Neal and I decided it was a must for our eating itinerary. After all, Neal hadn't had a good pastrami sandwich in ages. We had passed the restaurant on one of our sojourns around town earlier in the week, so after sleeping in a bit longer than usual, we made lunch at Jason's our first meal of the day.

Obviously a California-style deli, the place offered salads and soups as well as various sandwiches. We ordered hot pastrami, on rye, with mustard. When the woman taking our order looked at us funny and asked if we didn't want lettuce and tomato too, I said, "no, we're purists." She made some comment about it not looking that way to her and shooed us towards the cashier. Pastrami on rye with mustard isn't pure? What the hell else do these freaky west-coast-type people put on pastrami? Oh, the horror of it all!

And the verdict on the sandwiches? Eh. They were ok. The meat was cut too thickly, and there was plenty of fat on the edges. It was warm in spots and cold in others, due to the nature of microwaving food. It made me long for a corned beef sandwich from Jack's or Attman's, back in Baltimore (we never ate pastrami as a kid, just corned beef or beef brisket). There we could get the meat extra lean, sliced paper thin so one doesn't pull a slab of meat out from between the bread while taking a bite, with just the right amount of yellow mustard on fresh slices of rye. And a well-done pickle. Ah, the memories....

Dinner
Out of all of the restaurants in Las Vegas, why did I choose Mesa Grill? Because I was familiar with the place; we had eaten in the New York restaurant a few years ago, and it still remains one of our favorite dining experiences. The food was amazing, the service excellent, and the atmosphere casual and hip. This time, I was turning 40 and didn't want to be disappointed by my celebratory meal.

We had seen the Food Network special on Mesa Grill LV and were pleased to have the chance to actually go inside the place. A shame they never got those giant flaming grill/rotisserie gadgets working, but they probably would have been: 1) dangerous; 2) too hot, which might affect the climate of the place.

I was a bit afraid of drinking wine because of my maybe-allergy to grapes, so I ordered a cosmopolitan with Absolut. Neal, no longer afraid to spend some money in a restaurant, ordered a Glenfiddich and water. They were very generous with the scotch, and the cosmo was excellent. The best part was the price - only $7 apiece with a $2 surcharge for my premium vodka. Definitely one of the best deals in all of Las Vegas!

Unfortunately, it's been so long since this dinner, I can't remember what my appetizer was, but it may well have been the roasted pumpkin soup. I'm pretty sure Neal had the bbq duck on a blue corn pancake; he can't pass on duck if it's on a menu! If memory serves, both were terrific. For entrees, I went for the Sixteen Spice Rotisserie Chicken with Caramelized Mango Sauce and Buttermilk-Chive Mashed Potatoes, and Neal had the Coffee Spice Rubbed Rotisserie Filet Mignon with Wild Mushroom-Ancho Chile Sauce and Horseradish Potato Gratin. I had seen Bobby Flay make a sixteen spice chicken dish on Iron Chef, and was intrigued. It was amazing - a tender, juicy leg portion of chicken, absolutely coated with a suprisingly delicate spice concoction, sweetened with mango sauce. The mashed potatoes were creamy and delicious. Neal's filet was huge, tender and perfectly cooked. The coffee flavor didn't stand out, but the sauce was exquisite and the potato gratin was a dish I'd want to have in my Last Meal. Wow.

We couldn't decide on dessert, as there were far too many choices, so we tried the sampler - what I thought would be three half portions of blueberry shortcake, caramelized apple cheesecake, and molten chocolate cake. But nooo...three full-size desserts (full-sized these days thankfully means pretty small) arrived on a boat of a plate, each garnished with various scoops of sorbet and drizzles of sauce. We managed to finish all but one bite of the cheesecake.

What a fabulous meal. The service was great, the food decadent. I don't know why people hate Bobby Flay so much - the man knows how to design a menu.




* 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.

Dining in NY - Empellon Taqueria

I am kinda fascinated that a well-regarded pastry chef like Alex Stupak can suddenly decide to dump the sugarwork and start making tacos and moles. Apparently, working with fondant wasn't his true calling; in a recent tv interview, he said he was forced into the job. Today, he's got three restaurants in NY, all in a Mexican vein: Empellon Cucina, Empellon El Pastor, and the one we visited, Empellon Taqueria.  I say a Mexican "vein," because while the menu is full of tacos and such, Stupak isn't religious about authenticity. That's fine, because what he creates with the building blocks of Mexican cuisine is pretty tasty.

The menu states, in all caps, "Empellon strongly discourages the use of cell phones, unless you're posting food porn on Instagram. #Empellon." It would be much easier to post food porn had the restaurant not dimmed the lights several times during the course of our meal. So, sorry for the crappy pics. By the time we received the queso fundido, it was pretty damn dark in the restaurant.

The three of us (Mr Minx, our friend David, and I) started out with a couple of cocktails, a ¿Porque No? and a Spicy Cucumber margarita. Both are made with blanco tequila and a hint of spice; one flavored with pineapple and the other drink with cucumber. I think I preferred the spicy cucumber, and I don't ordinarily enjoy cucumber in a cocktail. Despite the jalapeno tincture, the cocktail was more herbal and refreshing than spicy.

¿Porque no? with Cimarron Blanco tequila, pineapple, cilantrom serrano tincture.  Mr Minx had the spicy cucumber margarita, made with Pueblo Viejo Blanco tequila, fresh cucumber, jalapeno tincture, and chile salt.

With our cocktails we enjoyed a bowl of chunky guacamole and chips, accompanied by two of the restaurants seven salsas--a creamy smoked cashew and a spicy puree featuring chiles de arbol. Between the three items, we had a nice palette of spicy and creamy flavors to ease our palates into the meal.

Guacamole with two salsas, smoked cashew (front) and arbol (back left)

I personally wanted to go vegetarian that night, so we started with an order of celery root with toasted peanuts. Garnished with celery leaves, the dish was a south of the border interpretation of the celery sticks stuffed with peanut butter most of us enjoyed as children. The celery root was lightly cooked to tenderness and topped with something the menu called salsa macha. Originating from Veracruz, salsa macha is commonly a thick oily sauce made with chiles and peanuts (or other nuts) vaguely reminiscent of the chile oil one finds at Chinese dim sum restaurants. The sauce in this dish seemed closer to a Thai peanut sauce, as it was lighter in color, and not particularly hot. Nevertheless, the components together made for a tasty dish.

Celery root, toasted peanuts, salsa macha

We tried three types of tacos between us. I went for the Brussels sprouts version, served with an almond sauce and toasted almonds. The small sprouts were decidedly meaty and a surprisingly good filling for a corn tortilla.

Brussels sprouts, toasted almonds, almendrado

David ordered the chicken tacos, which he said were excellent.

Chicken, black kale, crema, salsa verde 

And Mr Minx got the short rib pastrami tacos. As I said earlier, Stupak isn't all that concerned with authenticity, and if it works as well and is delicious as this, who needs it?  These tacos were like a classic pastrami sandwiches, mustard and all, but in taco form. Which leads me to wonder - what can't be served as a taco?

Shortrib pastrami, pickled cabbage, mustard seed salsa

Still feeling a bit peckish, we ordered the queso fundido topped with black trumpet mushrooms and guaje seeds (guaje is an inedible pod that produces seeds not unlike pumpkin seeds). The rich chihuahua cheese and delicate mushrooms worked equally well scooped onto tortilla chips as on the accompanying flour tortillas.

While I wasn't so crazy about the continually dimming lights and the din that escalated as more young and pretty patrons arrived, I was glad to have had the opportunity to taste Alex Stupak's Mexican stylings. Everything we tried was delicious, and I look forward to checking them out again.

Empellon Taqueria
230 West 4th Street
New York, NY 10014
(212) 367-0999



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Firehouse Subs

Tuesday night is grocery night at Casa Minx, but since every supermarket has its own pros and cons, we tend to vary where we shop depending on what we need to buy on a given week. One of our frequent go-to markets is Shop-Rite on Aylesbury Road in Lutherville. While we're in the area, we try to find a place to eat dinner, but we've become a little bored with the usual haunts. So it was a great surprise to us when we received an invitation to try out the new selection of cold deli heroes at the Firehouse Subs right down the street from Shop-Rite.

We were unfamiliar with the fast-casual chain that was started over 20 years ago in Jacksonville, Florida by Robin and Chris Sorensen. Both firefighters, the two decided to start a family business based on something they love: subs made with high quality meats and cheeses on toasted bread with a wide range of toppings. There are now over 850 locations nationwide and two happen to be in Baltimore County in Owings Mills and Lutherville. They are both owned by Ayaz Moledina, a former financial planner who wanted to start his own business. Moledina not only loved the product but the charitable work Firehouse Subs does within their respective communities through the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation.

Battalion Chief Sub

Although Firehouse has offered hot subs like their barbequed brisket and pastrami subs for years, they recently decided to cool things down with a line of cold sandwiches. Baltimore is one of only 100 markets where the six new subs are currently offered. While the meat and toppings are served cold, they are still nestled in a toasted bun.

Hook and Ladder Sub

The Battalion Chief is a roast beef sub with cheddar cheese, onion straws, lettuce, tomato, and a horseradish mayo. The meat and cheese are substantial and the horseradish mayo adds just enough heat to keep things interesting. The Hook and Ladder combines smoked turkey and honey ham and Monterey Jack cheese. I was concerned the Italian dressing would make the sandwich too tangy, but the sweetness of the ham adds a nice counterbalance and the turkey is quite smoky,

Malibu Sub

Smoked turkey breast and bacon highlight the Malibu, but the avocado and spinach really made the sub special. As the name implies, the Sicilian is Firehouse's take on an Italian cold cut with capicola, ham, pepperoni, salami, and Provolone cheese. This would be a great sub for a really hungry meat lover.

Sicilian Sub

That's not to say that a vegetarian couldn't be equally satisfied with their loaded Mediterranean sub, which includes feta, hummus, marinated artichoke hearts, olive mix, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, tomato, and onion. It's topped off with a balsamic vinaigrette and placed on Asiago cheese bread. (This sub is also available with grilled chicken breast.) The crusty layer of Asiago cheese on the toasted bread adds a whole new dimension of texture and flavor. The Asiago bread is also used with the Chicken Caesar sub: grilled chicken breast with romaine lettuce, tomato, and Caesar dressing. It's basically a salad wrapped in bread, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Mediterranean Sub (with Chicken)

All the subs are well packed with ingredients and the meats are shaved thinly so they melt in your mouth. Unlike some sub chains who will go nameless, you can actually see the abundance of ingredients overflowing the bread. Also, the bread is flavorful and has a slight crunch from toasting.

Chicken Caesar Sub

I can honestly say there was not a single dud among all the subs we tried, although I think the Minx was partial to the Hook and Ladder and I enjoyed the exotic flavors of the Mediterranean. Next time grocery night finds us heading to the Shop Rite in Lutherville, I'm sure we will be making a stop at Firehouse Subs for dinner.

* 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.

Mission Chinese Food

Korean-born, Oklahoma-raised Danny Bowien is one of the hottest properties around. In 2011, Mission Chinese Food, in San Francisco, was named one of Bon Appetit's best new restaurants, and now he's featured in the July 2013 issue of Food & Wine as one of the country's best new chefs.

The New York branch of Mission Chinese Food opened in 2012, and I've read nothing but raves. (Ok, there have been some bellyaching on Yelp, but that's to be expected.) On my recent trip to New York, I planned to be in the vicinity (SoHo) and thought it would make a great spot for lunch.

Turns out lunch is the best time to visit Mission Chinese Food. I got there a few minutes before the opening time of noon and there was already a short line. (At dinner time, the tiny restaurant's line, and, consequently, the wait, is far longer.) After a brief amount of time, I was taken to the dining room and, as I was a lone diner, given a seat at the bar, where all of the servers were incredibly nice and attentive to my needs.

Mission Chinese is famous for their spicy "Americanized Oriental food" with dishes like kung pao pastrami and thrice-cooked bacon. Both of those entrees have two flame symbols next to them on the menu, which according to the legend means "very freakin spicy." It was very hot and humid in New York and I had already done my fair share of sweating, so I figured one-flame spicy was about as hot as I wanted to go. I ordered two dishes from the hot appetizer section of the menu, the shaved pork belly with soy caramel, garlic, and Sichuan pepper, and the salt and peppered soft shell crab with buttermilk ranch dressing.

The menu suggests that the pork belly needs an accompaniment of a la carte rice, so I shelled out the additional $2 for a bowl. I suppose that was a warning to me that the dish was very spicy, but I chose not to heed that warning, instead putting faith in the fact that the dish had only one flame symbol. Dummy.

The dish was served cold, rather than hot, but that did not detract from the flavors and textures of this dish. The shavings of pork belly were meltingly tender. The sauce was a darkly-flavored melange of garlic, caramelized soy, maybe some Chingkaing vinegar, with some raw garlic on top for good measure. And it was full of the sensation the Chinese call ma la - numbing and spicy. There was so much Sichuan peppercorn in the dish, my nose went numb after a few forkfuls. What was worse, the dish was firey as I was eating it, of course, but when I attempted to put out the flames with the rice, it only served to fan them even higher. So the rice was a big bomb. What I needed was a glass of milk. If I drank milk.

The soft shell crab was much milder, provided I didn't eat any of the slices of green chile pepper scattered on top. It was a tad too salty though. I can't fault the crisp texture of the crust, or the ranch dressing, which tasted like tartar sauce, if tartar sauce were made with buttermilk.

There was a large party at the table next to the bar and they ordered a great many delicious-looking dishes. I heard several times, "this is really spicy," and have to wonder why restaurants make food hot just for the sake of making things hot. Some of us enjoy a nice bit of heat, but we're not all "chile-heads."

Senses completely overloaded, I headed out once more into the incredible humidity, in search for something cooling, like ice cream.

Mission Chinese Food
154 Orchard St
New York, NY 10002
http://missionchinesefood.com





Posted on Minxeats.com.

Heidi's Brooklyn Deli

There's a new restaurant near the University of Maryland Baltimore campus, or maybe it's two restaurants? Heidi's Brooklyn Deli and Sisters Pizza & Mussels are in side-by-side storefronts on Eutaw Street, across from the Hippodrome Theater. They share a Web site and a communal back end space, but the food in both joints is quite different. Heidi's specializes in deli sandwiches made on house-baked bread, plus salads and breakfast. Sisters (the name is alternately spelled with and without the apostrophe on the Web site) serves up pizza and mussels by the pound, plus pasta dishes and salads. I'm going to talk about Heidi's here and save Sisters for a future post.

Sandwich shops are rife in the UMB area - Kirbie's, Café on the Square, Potbelly Sandwich Shop, Donna's, Subway, Jay's, and the UMMS hospital cafeteria all offer meat, cheese, and veg between two slices of bread. And let's not forget Mary Mervis, et. al., in the Lexington Market. To succeed with so much competition, a new restaurant that primarily offers sandwiches needs to bring something new to the table (or the desk, for us work-a-day lunchers). Personally, I don't like going to the Lexington Market because it's impossible to emerge from its depths without smelling like fried chicken and egg rolls. I don't mind smelling food while I'm eating it, but three hours later I don't need to be nauseated by the scent of grease in my hair and clothing. But I'm picky like that - YMMV.

Anyhoo...back to Heidi's. I'm always willing to give a new place a try, so a week or so after opening, I ventured over. I decided to try their chicken salad, which I usually consider a good indicator of quality. If some thought is put into such a basic dish, generally the rest of their offerings will be pretty good (feel free to refute this in a comment). Heidi's offers nine types of bread, but so far only a handful are offered at a time. I couldn't get my sandwich on my first and second choices of pumpernickel or marble rye, so I settled for whole wheat. The breads are baked on premises and taste pretty good, particularly toasted. When I eventually got some rye bread on another visit, I thought it was a bit too-thickly sliced (by hand), but that its thickitude would be great for breakfast with the simple addition of butter. And maybe some bacon jam.

Heidi's chicken salad gets points for using both dark and white meat chicken, as God intended. I don't get the concept of using all white-meat and then slathering it with mayonnaise. If the chicken is moist, less mayo is needed, at least in Minx Logic (but I've found that there are very few practitioners of my school of thought). Heidi's salad was a bit heavy on the mayo, but not ridiculously so. The seasoning was slightly sweet, and there were bits of celery in the mix. The portion was huge, and the price included a bag of chips and a pickle spear, so quite a filling lunch. Maybe not my number one choice of chicken salad in town (the hospital serves up an admirable version), but a pretty decent one.

On my second visit to Heidi's I had planned to get the Eggplant Parmesan sandwich on a French hoagie roll. This time, they had my bread selection in stock, but not the eggplant, so I was forced to switch gears and ordered hot pastrami and swiss on rye. The pastrami was very lean, without the edge of fat that some of us appreciate, but it was also happily gristle-free and tender. If only the bread was thinner and the application of pastrami thicker!

When I was finally able to try the eggplant Parmesan (breaded eggplant, marinara, provolone cheese) a few days later, I was again wishing there was less bread and more filling. I ordered my sandwich on a French hoagie roll, thinking that the French style would be crispy, but it was fairly soft. No matter - all of the house-baked bread I've sampled at Heidi's beats Subway's by at least a mile. Maybe more. The eggplant/sauce/cheese combo was very good, with the most points awarded to the vaguely spicy, sweet-ish sauce which contained hunks of garlic.

One of my favorite things about Heidi's is the bag of chips that comes with the sandwich. The sandwiches are so large, I couldn't possibly also eat chips, so I tuck them away in my cupboard for snacking on another day when my lunch isn't as substantial.

Eventually, Heidi's plans to open for breakfast, and hopefully by that time they'll have all bread and filling choices available every day. Until then, have a second choice in mind, and I hope you like bread with your sandwiches!