Cassoulet

As I was poking around this blog, looking for stew recipes, I realized that over the years I had written not one, but four different recipes for cassoulet. Go look at other popular blogs and tell me how many cassoulet recipes they include--I'll wait here.

Ok, back? I think you probably found a lot of variations of what we think of as a classic cassoulet, a combination of duck, fatty pork, and beans. Food writer J. Kenji Lopez-Alt referred to it as Southern French Beanee Weenees. "What?!" you say, aghast. "Cassoulet is some fancy-ass dish that Julia Childs might make! Please don't compare it to all-Amurican hot dogs and beans!" Wrong! For one thing, it's Julia Child. No S. For another, cassoulet is just a casserole of beans and meat--oftentimes sausage, but also other fatty cuts of pork--with whatever other meat that happens to be around. It's a hearty peasant dish that requires a few slow hours of cooking time and is perfect for the dark winter season. 

While the French use white beans, fatty pork, and game birds in their cassoulet, there's absolutely no reason not to make substitutions. Yes, there is a Cassoulet Academy in France that will tell you there are three official variants of the dish, a Holy Trinity of sorts: the original, or father, recipe for cassoulet de Castelnaudary; the cassoulet de Carcassonne, thought of as the son; and the cassoulet de Toulouse, or the Holy Spirit. There are subtle variations between the three, in the types of pork products and other meats used as well as in cooking method (on stovetop or in oven), but they are essentially the same dish much as bourbon, rye, and scotch are all whiskeys. 

I do enjoy a cassoulet made with duck, but chicken thighs are just as tasty and much easier to find. I'm  not picky about beans, either, and am quite content to use canned cannellinis rather than tracking down the traditional tarbais beans. (However, I have purchased tarbais from Rancho Gordo, purveyor of all sorts of delicious bean varieties.) The pork element is also pot luck. I usually use some kind of sausage, even chicken sausage, and have not made a bad cassoulet yet.  

it's totally possible that these Chinese plates have lead in the glaze, which may explain some things

Chinese Cassoulet - duck legs, Chinese sausage, and canned beans make a tasty cassoulet.

Deconstructed Cassoulet is definitely fancy pork and beans with some duck on top.

Jerk Chicken Cassoulet - seems like a stretch, but works really well!

Southwest Cassoulet involves soaking black beans, but you could use canned beans and skip adding them to the chicken mixture until the last 20 minutes of cooking.

* 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!
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Easy Three-Ingredient Chili

I promise this is the fastest and easiest chili you'll ever make. Let me clarify - it's a green (or white) chili, made with tomatillos, green chile peppers, and pork. I've made it from scratch many times and have posted recipes for both pork and chicken versions here on the blog. But why go to all the trouble to make it from scratch when you really only need 3 pantry items: a jar of salsa; a can of meat; and a can of beans. Heck, you don't even need to add the beans if you don't want to!

 

My salsa of choice is Desert Pepper Salsa del Rio. It's spicy, delicious, and contains only ingredients I'd put in my chili--green chile peppers, onions, tomatillos, jalapeno peppers, salt, lime juice, water, vinegar, cilantro, cumin, oregano, and garlic. No preservatives or other weird additives. And did I mention that it's delicious? And it can be hard to find, so when I spot it at the supermarket, I buy three or four jars at a time.

The second ingredient is a can of pork. Wait! Before you get upset at the idea of meat from a can, I can assure you that this stuff is good! I mean, you eat canned tuna and salmon, right? So why is the idea of canned pork or beef so abhorrent? 

Keystone products contain only 2 ingredients: meat and a little salt. Opening a can reveals a mass of meat chunks in a bit of broth and a few globs of fat. It's not pretty, but neither is homemade refrigerated pork shoulder, which will probably have even more congealed fat on top. Don't skim it! Add the entire can--juice, fat, and all--for optimum goodness. If you can't find Desert Pepper green salsa, you could use another brand, but I cannot vouch for the deliciousness of your final product. 

Fast & Easy Green Chili

1-16oz jar Desert Pepper Salsa del Rio

1-15oz can Keystone All Natural Pork (or chicken)

1-15oz can cannellini beans (optional)

Optional garnishes - cilantro, sour cream, sliced avocado, sliced radishes, shredded cheese, cilantro, green onions

Dump the three cans of stuff into a pot. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then turn heat down to a simmer. Cook 15 minutes, until heated through. Taste for seasonings, but you shouldn't need to add anything, unless you want it saltier or spicier. 

Serves 3-4 

* 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!

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To Misquote Bon Jovi, You Give New Jersey a Bad Name

My friend Kim and I were born at the same hospital exactly a week apart, but we didn't meet until high school. Forty-plus years later, we're still friends. We try to get together a couple times per year, and in 2022, we decided a joint birthday celebration was in order. I made a reservation at the Fogo de Chao in downtown Baltimore and waited eagerly for the day we would indulge in a festival of meats.

Fogo de Chao has always been a personal favorite of mine, though I don't think it's as good as the Brazilian bbq restaurant my family would frequent in the 90-00s, Green Field Churrascaria, in Rockville. Back then, $25 would get you a crazy selection of meats, including beef and pork, but also chicken hearts, duck, and sometimes rabbit. The salad bar was loaded with everything from cheese and salads, hearts of palm and asparagus, to various starches and soups. The shrimp and chayote squash soup was delish, and I'd put away a couple bowls of that before I started my meat fest. I once consumed so much protein I ended up with a nasty hangover the next day. Fogo's menu is similar to that of Green Field, minus the weird bits and duck, and they have feijoada rather than chayote soup. I've enjoyed some fabulously tender cuts of beef and flavorful pork there and the bacon-wrapped chicken shouldn't be missed. But I learned something on this most recent visit:

Don't go on a Saturday.

The restaurant was packed. It's a huge space, and every inch of it was filled with diners and gauchos (servers) bearing sword-like skewers of proteins, everyone talking at once. The din was incredible. And if I didn't get COVID after sitting in that space for two hours, I'll never get it.

The best thing about eating at a Brazilian bbq, besides the food, is that there's no wait to eat. Once you get to the table and decide you're going for the full churrascaria experience, you can go fill a plate at the salad bar and once re-seated, the gauchos will begin their parade of meaty goodness. And that still happens when the restaurant is packed. Still, we didn't have an optimal experience--or even a good one. I cannot fault the kitchen, as hot and juicy meats came out in a steady parade all evening. Our waitress was a little slow with the drinks, however, as she waited by the bar to fill several tables' orders--including water--at once. I get it. We were seated in Siberia, waaaay far from the bar. But I needed water. And wine. But mostly the water. I feel like I'm being nit-picky, but when one pays $61.95 per person, not including appetizers, drinks, dessert, tax, or gratuity, one wants impeccable service. At some point during hour two (!), our waitress' shift ended.... <crickets> Fortunately, the somewhat giggly young man who took her place was attentive. More on that later. 

(You're probably wondering where New Jersey comes in. I am getting to that. Finally!)

As I said, I am being nit-picky. But there was also a huge non-food/non-service issue that made me somewhat angry. Directly to my left was a table of twelve people who were shouting at each other across and down the table. Not angry shouting, just conversational shouting. There were distinct New Jersey accents involved, and the loudest of them emanated from a female personage at the end of the table. She was on her cellphone for a good 45 minutes, dropping the f-bomb frequently, and get this--complaining regularly about the noise level in the restaurant. THEN GO OUTSIDE, YOU RUDE $@*#! Also, GET YOUR FEET OFF THE CHAIR! This chick wasn't a toddler, or even a teenager. She was at least in her mid-20s, and clearly had been raised by hyenas. The whole group of...individuals...(I promised Mr Minx I wouldn't use the pejorative that initially came to mind, one that might be used to describe folks involved with the manufacture of cement overshoes) seemed ill-mannered, but she was the worst. Part of me wanted to say something, but the rest of me didn't want to end up in the Inner Harbor, swimming with...is there any sea life in that cesspool?...the fishes. 

After about an hour of this noise pollution, the group--many wearing hoodies bearing the name of an automotive industry-related company from northern NJ--left. Suddenly, the decibel level of the restaurant decreased. I looked around and saw several other large parties of ten or more, and all seemed to be conversing at normal tones while enjoying their food. I could finally hear my dining companion, who had been as disgruntled as I was while the noisy ______s were next to us. Sadly, they had bothered me enough that my food didn't taste particularly good, even after they left. (I continued to eat, however, to get my money's worth.) I have to wonder if that group was in Maryland because they've already been kicked out of the restaurants in their own area. 

Our new waitperson came over to see if we wanted dessert, and Kim mentioned that it was our birthday, angling for a complimentary slice of cake. We were brought a menu so we could choose. Unfortunately, said menu included calorie counts. Did you know that a piece of Fogo key lime pie has 820 calories? Suddenly, I felt very full and thought if I ate pie after all that meat, I'd be sick. I suggested that we share a dessert. When we told the waiter, he exclaimed that we must each choose a dessert because it was our birthday! Then, sotto voce, he said we could take it to go. So we ordered pie to go and requested that the check be split between us. Neither of us are fond of calculating tip, but the bill included calculations for 18%, 20%, and 22% "for your convenience." So we added the 20% amount to our bills and left. 

I'm not sure why $99 dollars didn't seem like too much money. And only now that I am writing this blog post am I noticing that the convenient tip calculations were on THE ENTIRE $143 TAB, not half of that. After I noticed the error, we each called the restaurant and asked for a refund of the extra 20%, which they honored.

To add insult to injury, when I got home after that dinner, I found an email from OpenTable claiming that I didn't show for my reservation. With that particular reservation service, it's 3 strikes (or no-shows) and you're out. I've been a member of OpenTable for at least a dozen years and in all that time I've had one no-show, and it wasn't my fault. I would never leave a restaurant hanging like that. When Mr Minx and I got food poisoning on a trip to Los Angeles in the mid-00s, in between trips to the bathroom I called the restaurants at which we had dinner reservations and cancelled them. The reservationist at Spago thanked me and said few people bothered to cancel. They just didn't show up. At Spago! 

I guess not only the Joisey Wench at Fogo was raised by hyenas.

I'm not sure how I feel about Fogo anymore. It might still be a good place for lunch, as the Market Table is less than $20pp and is essentially a vegetarian buffet with a few cold cuts and sugared bacon. But it will be a while before I go there for dinner. To be honest, the huge jump in price, from $40-something last year to $62 this year is a deterrent. I understand that inflation has put food prices through the roof, and they probably have to pay higher wages to retain that many staff, but the experience is not worth it to me. If I'm going to pay $71pp (that's including my glass of wine), I'd rather be in a quieter restaurant with fewer patrons. Or one with Michelin stars. Or in New York. But hey, if you have an expense account, by all means go to Fogo. The food is good, as are the drinks. It's just maybe not for me anymore.

* 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!

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Flashback Friday - Pulled Pork with Peaches

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on March 28, 2014. I know Lent's not over, but whatever - I don't participate. So pass the pork!

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The February issue of Saveur magazine has several interesting recipes for peaches, which seems odd when there's snow on the ground. But canned peaches can be just as tasty; indeed the focus of the article was canning. And while I don't do any canning myself, Del Monte, Libby's, etc., does.

When I spotted a relatively inexpensive pork shoulder at the grocery store, I decided we needed to try the peach-braised pulled pork. Once home, I realized the recipe called for a 3 lb boneless shoulder, and we had just purchased one that weighed 8.5 lbs, bone-in. It also called for whole cloves, smoked paprika, and lager beer. We had ground cloves, no paprika, and a couple bottles of my brother-in-law's home brewed ale. So I do what I always do--make substitutions. Allspice works just as well as cloves when it comes to matching with peaches, and as long as the beer wasn't stout, it would be fine. As for the paprika--I could have sworn I had a big bag of it in the cupboard, but I suppose I'll have to order more from Penzey's or the Spice House. There's really no substitute, so I just skipped it completely.

I knew from the get-go that 3 hours wouldn't be enough cooking time for the porky behemoth we bought--but what would be?

Three hours into cooking, the meat was cooked but still a little tough. I decided to hack the shoulder into chunks, to help it along. By four+ hours, I was getting impatient and hauled the thing out of the oven. It was plenty tender, but not tender enough to shred with two forks. Instead, I chopped it up with a big knife, all the while sampling it to make sure it was good. I'm all about quality control.

The magazine calls for using only half a cup of the pan juices. There were at least 2 cups, and it seemed like a real waste to toss it (and the onions, garlic, and peaches within it) because it tasted so rich and porky. So I emulsified the whole mess with a stick blender, added half a cup of brown sugar and the rest of the peaches and peach syrup, and boiled it vigorously for about fifteen minutes. And instead of serving it with sauteed onions and peach jam, I made some slaw with brussels sprouts, because that's what we had.

It was great, but we had pork for days and days. And days. Not complaining, but 8.5 lbs is a lot of pork for two people.

Peach-Braised Pulled Pork, adapted from Saveur

3 tbsp olive oil
3-8 lb boneless pork shoulder
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 allspice berries
2 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 large yellow onion, cut into quarters
2 (12-oz.) bottles beer
1 (1-qt.) jar canned peaches in syrup, drained or use store-bought
1/2 cup brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 325°.

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a baking pan or dutch oven large enough to hold your meat.

Season pork with salt and pepper. Brown meat on all sides, about 10–12 minutes. Remove meat from pan and add allspice, bay leaves, garlic, and onion to pan; cook until browned, 6–8 minutes. Add beer; cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan, until reduced by half, 10–12 minutes.

Return pork to pan and add half the peaches. Bake, covered, until pork is tender and an instant-read thermometer inserted into pork reads 190°, 3–5 hours. Let cool. If pork is tender enough, use two forks to shred the meat, otherwise, chop it with a sharp knife.

Pour two cups of the pan juices, plus any solids (minus bay leaves), into a sauce pan. Puree with a stick blender. Add the remaining peaches and their juice and the brown sugar. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for fifteen minutes or so. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir chopped meat into the sauce. If you are using a huge shoulder, like we did, save some of the meat for other uses, like pasta sauce.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

La Calle

There are so many chain restaurants in the Inner Harbor area of downtown Baltimore, that when a locally-owned joint opens up, I get excited. Situated on a bland block of South Street, between Baltimore and Redwood, and a stone's throw from The Block, La Calle--"the street" in Spanish--is among the most exciting. While the name conjures thoughts of street food, the decor--some walls paneled, others painted the color of red mole, a full bar--suggest fine dining.

At this point, I've only ever been for lunch, so have not experienced the lobster empanadas or braised lamb shank barbacoa or chicken mole poblano, all of which sound amazing.

What I have had, so far, has been the shrimp ceviche, light and full of flavor (though the accompanying "sweet" tortilla chips are a little too thick and crunchy for my tastes).

Also a perfectly cooked, crisp-skinned, salmon that was so good I've had it twice. It was accompanied by tiny potatoes, tomatoes, and fava beans in an epazote lobster cream sauce. And it's $12. Honestly, both times it was the best salmon I've had in town in ages, hands down, and at a fraction of the price.

Several of my various dining companions went with tacos, and though I didn't get to try any of them, they looked uniformly tasty. That might be my next order, unless of course I finally go for dinner. The last time I was at La Calle, it was with Mr Minx, and he tried the al pastor torta. It's a nice big sandwich, as tortas usually are, filled with tasty and tender pork bits that I couldn't resist snatching off of his plate.

We also tried the flan, which was excellent--firm, very smooth, just sweet enough, and dusted with a smattering of sesame seeds. One of the best I've tried.

La Calle is a long walk from work for me, but well worth it. And of course if I'm feeling lazy, I can always take a bus. I'm already contemplating my next visit in a couple of weeks. Do go, because I'd love for this place to stick around for a long time.

La Calle
10 South St
Baltimore, MD 21202
www.lacallerestaurant.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!

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Flashback Friday - Spice and Dice

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on August 9, 2011.

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We Minxes love Thai food and ever since the demise of our regular haunt, Bangkok Place, we're always on the lookout for a new favorite. While we really enjoyed a meal at Bangkok Garden, being in Columbia makes it a bit of a haul and not exactly good for any spur-of-the-moment meal decisions. Recently, Mr Minx received a coupon for a place called Spice & Dice, located in a nondescript office park on Joppa Road about halfway between Goucher and Loch Raven Boulevards. That's not far from us, so we made a point to have dinner there one recent Tuesday evening. 

Spice & Dice has a bright and happy interior that, sans tables, would work well as a daycare center. Ignore, however, the many colors and patterns on the walls and concentrate instead on the menu which has a large selection of appetizers, plus curries, stir-fries, and noodle dishes. On our first trip, we sampled the fish cakes and the chicken laab from the appetizer section, plus the gingery chicken ped king and the vibrantly-spiced duck with basil sauce, all washed down with generously-sized glasses of sweet and milky Thai iced tea. After that successful experience, we vowed to visit again soon, this time with camera in tow.

A few weeks later, we met my father and brother for dinner at Spice & Dice. After taking some time perusing the many interesting menu options, Dad opted for the jasmine rice soup followed by pad thai with pork. The soup was outstanding, its light broth tangy with lemongrass and full of tender chicken. The pad thai was a fine rendition of the ubiquitous noodle dish, served with an extra helping of crushed peanuts on the side.

Jasmine Rice Soup

Pad Thai with Pork

We also sampled two appetizers, the chicken teriyaki dumplings and fried calamari. The dumplings were drizzled with an unfortunately goopy sweet sauce that did nothing for them and were otherwise forgettable. The calamari was slightly chewy, as it often is when served in the diamond-scored-rectangular chunks that tend to be typical of Asian restaurants, but was otherwise tasty, particularly when dipped in the lightly spicy pink mayo-based sauce.

Chicken Teriyaki Dumplings - pretty but meh.

Happy Calamari

As fans of Thai basil, my brother and I both ordered dishes that featured that ingredient. Or so we thought. His chicken with basil dish displayed no evidence of that herb's presence, but otherwise had a lively garlic flavor.

Chicken in Basil Sauce

My dish, shrimp with eggplant, contained a decent amount of basil leaves in a sweet-ish sauce that had partly been absorbed by the chunks of bright purple Asian eggplant. It was a bit inconvenient to eat the tail-on shrimp, but otherwise I happily hoovered up this dish, lusciously-sauced romaine leaves and all.

Eggplant and Shrimp with Basil

Mr Minx opted for the jungle curry, a preparation that contains none of the coconut milk present in other Thai curries. It had a very distinctive and unusual herbal flavor, predominately galangal and ginger, and was quite unlike any other Thai dish we've tried.

Jungle Curry with Pork

Some of the dishes at Spice & Dice are a bit on the sweet side - probably a nod to American palates - and the teriyaki dumplings were nothing special, but everything else was quite delicious.

While the decor was busy, the restaurant was not. I hope more people find this cute spot and stop by for a meal so it'll stay around long enough for us to become regulars.

Spice and Dice Thai Restaurant
1220 E Joppa Rd #108
Towson, MD 21286
(410) 494-8777

* 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!

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Flashback Friday - Dinner: An Improvisation

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on July 1, 2011.

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It's fairly unusual that I don't cook something from scratch on the weekend, but every once in a rare while, I take a break. One recent Saturday, Mr Minx whipped up some spaghetti and meatballs, and on the following day I heated up some leftovers. And when I say "heated up some leftovers," I really mean "created a whole new dish with some pre-cooked items." I like to play with my food, and rather than eating leftover baby back ribs as is, I thought I'd gussy them up a bit.

What I really wanted to make was a banh mi sandwich, but I was too lazy and it was too hot to take a stroll to the grocery store for a baguette. Once I had that stuck in my head though, it was hard to shake. In addition to the pork, I had a bulb of fennel in the fridge, which I thought might make an adequate stand-in for the pickled daikon or radishes I would ordinarily put in a banh mi. Particularly if I used some of the plethora of licorice-y tasting Thai basil that was currently growing on our back porch as garnish. It was starting to sound like a plan.

There was just that bread issue to tackle.

In lieu of bread, I decided to make rice flour crepes. I should have just gone with the flour tortillas we had and called the dish "tacos," because the crepes were a disaster. It took about half the batter before a small crepe was successfully produced, and by that time, I was thoroughly discouraged.

Our dinner was supposed to look like this:

Instead, it looked like this:

I ended up slicing all of the crepes into ribbons and stir frying them with the pork, adding fish sauce, sugar, garlic, lemongrass, Sriracha, and ginger to the pan. The "noodles" were then topped with a handful of pickled fennel, some pickled carrots, plus cilantro, mint, and Thai basil. It was good, but not what I wanted.

If you want to try making rice crepes - or rice crepe noodles, here's a recipe:

1 cup rice flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon oil

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Scoop out 1/4 cup at a time onto a hot, greased non-stick skillet over high heat, swirling the pan so the batter forms about a 6" circle. Cook about 30 seconds, then loosen the crepe with the edge of a spatula, flip, and cook the other side for 30 seconds longer. That's easier than it sounds! Warning: make sure not to slip the spatula under the crepe more than half an inch or so, because when you remove the spatula, the crepe will tear. Just ease it around the outermost edge until the crepe is loosened, then work the spatula under the whole thing and flip it.

Stack crepes on a plate as you make them. Cursing optional. Roll around fillings, or if broken, use like noodles. Serves 4.

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Flashback Friday - Pho Dat Than

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on June 24, 2011.

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With the recent demise of one of the few Vietnamese restaurants in the area, Saigon Remembered, I decided we need patronize the other Viet joint in town to make sure that one stays around for a while. Pho Dat Than, an offshoot of a Columbia restaurant of the same name, is located just below the annoying traffic circle at the crossroads of York, Joppa, Dulaney Valley, etc., in Towson. Luckily, the circle can be avoided by parking in the lot behind the Recher Theatre, accessible via either Joppa Road or Towsontown Boulevard.

Pho Dat Than's decor is pleasant enough - it's simple and tidy, with mint green walls, high-backed booths, and tables arranged in neat rows. On the early Friday night we were there, the restaurant had a decent number of diners, and I could see carry-out orders lining up on what used to be a sushi bar in the back. That boded well for weekend traffic.

I had already perused the somewhat messy online menu and knew what I wanted us to try. But first, we ordered some iced coffee. The Vietnamese version differs from the more familiar Thai in that rather than receiving a glass of ready-made coffee, a cup of sweetened condensed milk topped with a metal brewing device full of coffee grounds and water, along with a glass of ice, is brought to the table. I was afraid that I'd spill the coffee all over the place while transferring it from cup to glass, but with judicious use of the saucer (and assistance from our waiter), it was easier than it appeared. The coffee was rich and dark and sweet - everything a good iced coffee should be, except cold, since the ice melted on contact with the hot coffee.

We started our dinner with an order of Bò Lá Nho (grilled beef in grape leaves). I recalled having this dish at Saigon Remembered and liking it very much. Pho Dat Than's is different in that the grape leaf rolls are larger, with less of a smoky flavor than those at SR. However, the juicy chopped beef (rather like a succulent meatball) and slightly charred bits of grape leaf were a lovely combination of flavors and textures, and much more to my liking than the usual rice-stuffed Middle Eastern/Greek version.

Next came an order of Muc Rang Muoi (crispy spicy squid). The only dish that didn't come with a small bowl of nước chấm, the ubiquitous fish-sauced based accompaniment for many Vietnamese dishes, it still benefited from a drizzle. The calamari was not as crispy as I'd have liked, possibly because it was served on a bed of roughly-torn iceberg lettuce, nor was it spicy, but it was pleasantly chewy and otherwise tasted fine.

Bún Thit Nuóng Cha Giò (grilled pork & cha gio vermicelli) was a huge bowl of slender rice noodles topped with thinly sliced grilled pork, beansprouts, carrots, shredded lettuce, cilantro, plus crushed peanuts and scallions. It was very similar to the other noodle dish we tried, the Bánh Uot Cha Lua Thit Nuóng (plain rice crepe with Vietnamese ham and grilled pork), which only differed in that the noodles were thin and sticky sheets - similar to the wrapper of the Chinese dim sum dish cheong fun - and the inclusion of steamed pork roll, which I suppose was the "Vietnamese ham."

The combination of smoky pork and bland noodles, sparked with additions of nước chấm and cilantro, was delicious. I preferred the vermicelli over the crepes, which were too gelatinous even for me. The pork roll (which I initially took for chicken or turkey) provided nothing but texture to the dish, as the flavor was nearly nonexistent. I could detect a vague peanut aura and maybe nuances of wet newspaper, but that's about it. Stick to the grilled pork.

Overall, the meal was pleasant and the quantity of leftovers made for a tasty supper a couple days later. I'm looking forward to going again, to experiment with different meats and definitely try the pho, which seemed to be on quite a few tables while we were there.

Pho Dat Thanh
510 York Road
Towson, MD 21204
(410) 296-9118




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Fogo de Chao Adds New Items For Spring

For serious meat lovers, Brazilian steakhouses like Fogo de Chao are sheer nirvana. One can simply sit at the table while waiters arrive with skewers of various grilled meats. For one set price, meat lovers can gorge on steak, pork, chicken, and lamb in all varieties until they cannot eat another bite. Fogo is also good for people on low-carb diets as, in addition to all the meats, they offer a huge self-serve bar full of vegetables and salads.

When the warmer weather sets in, some might feel that a meal heavy in proteins might be too rich for the rising temperatures. However, Fogo is introducing seven new items for Spring with lighter cuts of meat, seasonal vegetables, and a new tribute wine. The Minx and I were recently invited to try out these new menu items.

I started out with their new Blood Orange Manhattan. Buffalo Trace Bourbon is mixed with a splash of Carpano Antica and dashes of blood orange and angostura bitters, then served over rocks. While it did remind me a bit of a Manhattan, this cocktail had a bright citrus touch.

Fogo has also unveiled “Eulila,” a red wine blend that pays tribute to Eulila “Selma” Oliveira, Chief Culture Officer of Fogo de Chão. She was born and raised in Brazil, but moved to the United States in 1985, determined to achieve the American dream. Following a chance encounter with the founders of Fogo de Chão while in Dallas, Oliveira joined the company as the brand’s first female manager and, ultimately, executive. Oliveira is affectionately known as the Fogo matriarch; the wine was named in her honor for her unwavering affection, passion, and appreciation for every restaurant guest and team member.

Specially created for Fogo by the award-winning winemakers at Viña Vik, Eulila the wine is a blend of 48% Carmenere, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 22% Syrah. Carmenere is a new varietal to me, its fruitiness balanced nicely by the Cabernet and the Syrah. Though full-bodied, Eulila is not particularly tannic and pairs well with Fogo's meat selections.

Now it was time to get to the food. The Minx and I started with Fogo's new Carrot & Ginger Soup. This light, vegetarian friendly, gluten-free soup is made with baby carrots and spicy ginger, blended together with fresh herbs and coconut milk.

Although Fogo is known for its grilled meats, they also offer several seafood options. We decided to order one of our favorites - the Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail. Jumbo shrimp are served in a huge bowl of ice and paired with a malagueta cocktail sauce. In the background of the picture, you can also see ttheminx's go-to cocktail, the Strawberry Hibiscus Caipirinha. The hibiscus-infused cachaça is mixed with muddled strawberries and lime to create a refreshing warm weather drink.

Before we started in with the meat, we visited the bar for our vegetables. The Roasted Cauliflower Salad is made of cauliflower that has been oven-roasted with olive oil, garlic, and black pepper, and finished off with scallions and sesame seeds. The Brazilian Kale & Orange Salad is composed of fresh kale, crunchy red onion, juicy oranges, and is topped with a citrus-honey vinaigrette. I also picked up some asparagus, green beans, hearts of palm, and potato salad, but the Market Table has so many more fruits and vegetables to choose from.

With the preliminaries out of the way, we were ready for the meat. We flipped over our cards from red to green, notifying the waiters that they could come over with their skewered of grilled goodness. The Pork Picanha is butchered and prepared with the same simple style as traditional Picanha, then carved right at the table. I was particularly impressed with the spicy Linguica Sausage, a pork sausage with red pepper, garlic,and fresh onion. I also had to partake of the beautifully cooked sirloin. All the meats were tender and juicy. (Also featured in the above photo is a beautifully pink chunk of rib eye.)

Fogo has also created a new dessert for Spring, the Crème de Coconut. Freshly-shredded coconut is combined with condensed milk and cream, baked in the oven, and then served warm with ice cream and a little lime zest. I'm usually not a fan of shredded coconut, but the incredible coconut flavor made me overlook the chewiness that I normally dislike. Also, the ice cream and lime zest provide a refreshing coolness to the dessert.

Fogo de Chao has always been a great place for meat-atarians, but they also have a lengthy menu of options for everyone's palate. If you have been debating about visiting Fogo de Chao, these new Spring items are worth checking out.

Fogo de Chao
600 E. Pratt St.
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 528-9292

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Cambodian...Tacos

I usually cook only two nights per week, Saturday and Sunday, with Mr Minx handling the grub the rest of the time. During the summer, I can be as creative as I want, doing homemade pasta or other more time-consuming things, but during football season, my Sunday dinner options must either be: 1) long-simmering; or 2) super-fast. We both grew up eating supper early, a habit that we've continued into adult-hood, so a game that starts at 1pm and ends around 4pm doesn't leave much time to put something interesting together. Even if I have a short amount of time I don't want to resort to a cop-out like grilled cheese sandwiches or frozen dinners. (For the record, we don't eat frozen dinners.)

Last year I was introduced to Keystone All-Natural canned meats. Originally I was like, "what?" But then when I considered that the idea of canned fish doesn't give me a problem, why should other canned proteins? And I have to admit, the stuff is actually quite good. We made two delicious dishes with their canned beef, a Thai salad and the obvious chili, so when I had the opportunity to work with Keystone again, I jumped at the chance. This time, we received canned pork and chicken, both of which will be featured here in upcoming posts.

This weekend the Ravens game started at 4:25pm. That put an even bigger time crunch on making dinner, considering we'd be eating while the game is on. I wanted something I could put together at halftime, for second-half consumption. Pork tacos were a natural. But I didn't want to merely heat up meat and slop it on a tortilla, because I'm a creative person. I decided to revisit the recipe for a Cambodian pork dish called nataing that I made a few years back. The original recipe, from the Elephant Walk restaurant in Boston, uses ground pork, but I thought the Keystone All-Natural Pork, which comes in large chunks that could be easily shredded, would be even better in a taco.

The pork and coconut milk mixture is pretty rich, so I wanted to add a tangy element to cut the unctuousness. Pickled red onion, a popular taco addition and something I already had in my fridge, seemed perfect. A healthy dose of cilantro was essential as well, for freshness. And a squeeze of lime. Chips and guac were a perfect side dish.

Already a pretty quick dish to make, the nataing was lightning fast with the canned pork. And it was quite delicious, if I do say so myself.

Nataing (Cambodian Pork) Tacos

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 14.5-ounce can Keystone All-Natural Pork, drained
1 dried New Mexico chile, seeded and deveined, ground to a powder or
2 teaspoons New Mexico chile powder (not chili powder!)
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Salt
1/4 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts, coarsely ground
Taco-sized flour tortillas
Pickled red onion (recipe follows)
Fresh cilantro

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and add the pork and the chile powder, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon. Add the garlic and shallot and cook a minute or two, stirring regularly, so the garlic does not burn. Stir in the coconut milk, sugar, fish sauce, and peanuts. Turn heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, until the shallots have softened. Taste for seasoning and add salt or more fish sauce or both.

Warm the tortillas in the microwave for a few seconds to make them more pliable. Add a few spoonsful of the pork mixture, top with pickled onion and cilantro and eat.

Pickled Red Onion

1 red onion
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
A few peppercorns and a bayleaf (optional)

Slice the onion very thinly and place in a quart jar with a lid. Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan and bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally so the sugar dissolves. Pour the hot liquid over the onions, making sure the onions are submerged. Add the peppercorns and bayleaf if you want (chiles wouldn't be a bad idea, either.) Allow to come to room temperature before sealing the jar and storing it in the fridge.

Tip: keep the liquid after the onions are eaten to make more pickled onions. I just add fresh ones to the jar and seal up again.

* 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 - Hakata Tonton

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on July 16, 2013.
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Regular readers of Minxeats know that I'm a pretty adventurous eater. I also come from a Polish immigrant family who valued what we now like to call "nose-to-tail" eating. My Mom used to rhapsodize about a dish my Grandma prepared long ago called chłódno nogi, or cold jellied pig's feet. While the "jellied" part of the equation never turned me on, I was curious to try pig's feet. I've been a fan of crispy pork skin and collagen- and calcium-rich cartilaginous goodness practically since birth. And lucky me, there's a restaurant in New York that specializes in that very thing - Hakata Tonton.

When I was in New York for the Fancy Food Show earlier in the month, I met up with my regular NY dining companion, David, for dinner. Hakata Tonton is conveniently close to his place of employment and seemed like the obvious choice. For me, at least. Thankfully, David trusts my judgement and is willing to eat adventurously.

The menu at Hakata Tonton is fairly voluminous for such a tiny place. When we were asked if we had a reservation - on a Monday night - I at first thought the restaurant was pretentious. But then when we got inside, I saw that there were only about eight tables, plus six seats at the bar, and all were full. They squeezed us in and made us feel very welcome. After hemming and hawing over what to order - and I wanted most of it - I narrowed my choices down to three: soft shelled crab, a sushi roll, and tonsoku, aka pig's feet. Because one can't not eat the specialty of the house.

My dishes came out in rapid succession, first the crab, which was lightly battered and served atop a delicious ponzu sauce of sweetened dashi and the aromatic Japanese citrus known as yuzu.

Then came a simple maki roll with lettuce and fried shrimp.

And finally, the main attraction - three hunks of grilled pig trotter with scallions and more ponzu. The skin was crunchy/crispy, the little meat on the bones was gelatinous, and overall it was finger-licking-good.

David went for the snow crab croquettes, which had bits of tonsoku inside and sat atop a sweet-ish puree of Japanese sweet potatoes. The croquettes were very soft under the crisp crust, hence the spoon. The flavors were very mild and I wished there had been more actual crab inside.

After quite a wait, David's deep fried chicken showed up. Each of the six blobs of meat were about the equivalent of a de-boned chicken leg. The meat was juicy and perfectly cooked, and the crust was delightfully crunchy. And of course there was more of that lovely ponzu sauce on the plate. Really excellent fried chicken.

We both enjoyed our meal, and I wished that we had been a bigger party with bigger appetites so we could try more things from the menu. Several diners around us were eating hot pots filled with tofu, dumplings, vegetables, Berkshire pork belly, and tonsoku, and it smelled outstanding. I would have liked to try the ankimo (monkfish liver) in yuzu miso, the slow cooked pork buns with spicy mustard, the collagen soup gyoza, scallop fritters, and the okonomiyaki. And...maybe next time.

Hakata Tonton
61 Grove St
New York, NY 10014
(212) 242-3699
Web site



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.