Indonesian Fusion

The Indonesian dish, Gado Gado (literally "mix mix") is a potpourri of various ingredients served with a spicy peanut sauce.  Though traditionally a salad, I decided that gado gado would make a fine burrito filling. (Actually, pretty much anything and everything tastes pretty good wrapped up in a flour tortilla.) I was heavily inspired by the yummy bulgogi burritos I get from the KoCo Truck that parks in front of my office once a week. If that Korean dish of meat, rice, and fiery gochujang sauce can translate into a Cal-Mex favorite, why can't a favorite dish from another Asian nation?

My Gado Gado Burrito is cheap, filling, and easy. You really only have to make the peanut sauce. Leftover rice is fine, as are leftover veggies. You can use cold roast chicken in place of the tofu, if you want. Hate cilantro? Use basil or arugula. Use all three. Hate burritos? (Seriously? How can you hate burritos?) Then assemble all the ingredients in a bowl, top with the peanut sauce, and eat it as a salad. Allergic to peanuts? Sub in almond butter. Allergic to almonds, too? Well, then you should probably eat something else.

Gado Gado Burrito

For the peanut sauce:
1 tablespoon grated ginger
3 cloves garlic, crushed
Oil
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons brown or palm sugar
1 cup coconut milk
4 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Hot sauce
Salt

For the burrito:
4 large eggs
2-3 small potatoes (I used heirloom All Blue potatoes, which is the purple color you see in the pic)
Burrito sized flour tortillas
1 cup cooked jasmine or basmati rice
2 ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges and seasoned with salt
1 package baked tofu in plain, sesame ginger, or teriyaki flavor, cut into strips
Cilantro

To make the peanut sauce: In a medium saucepan, cook the ginger and garlic in a bit of oil until fragrant. Stir in the peanut butter and the brown sugar. Whisk in the coconut milk to thin the mixture, then season with the lime, soy, and fish sauce. Add your favorite hot sauce and additional salt to taste.

To make the burrito:  Bring a saucepot of water to a boil over high heat. With a slotted spoon, gently lower the eggs into the water. Set a timer for 7 minutes, and cook the eggs at a simmer. Prepare an ice bath by putting several ice cubes and cold water in a medium bowl. When the 7 minutes is up, gently remove the eggs to the ice bath and allow to cool completely before peeling.

Cook the potatoes in boiling water until tender. Allow to cool, then peel and cut into small cubes. Set aside until ready to use.

Place a tortilla on a microwave-safe plate and cover with a damp paper towel. Nuke on high 30-45 seconds until the tortilla is hot and pliable. Top with a few spoonfuls of the rice, some tomato wedges, a few strips of tofu, one of the boiled eggs, cut in half, a couple spoonfuls of potato, and a healthy drizzle of the peanut sauce. Top with several sprigs of cilantro. Roll up, burrito style, then cut in half. Serve with additional peanut sauce for dipping.

Makes 2-4 depending on how generous you are with the fillings.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Chinese Cassoulet?

A while back, we tasted a seafood cassoulet made by B&O American Brasserie's new chef, Mike Ransom. While it had multiple proteins and white beans, I suggested that it could do with a bit of sausage, perhaps Spanish chorizo. Of course Spanish chorizo wouldn't be typically used in cassoulet, which is a French dish, but I am no traditionalist. (Neither is the chef, it seems.) That got me to thinking about what other sausages would work with beans. As I was nibbling on leftover dim sum, Chinese sausages came to mind. Cold weather was afoot; why not warm up the house with a cassoulet-style dish of duck and beans and...Chinese sausage?

I've decided that it's a fine idea to keep a package of duck legs in the freezer. We get them at Great Wall, a Chinese grocery store in Catonsville, but you can pick them up at most Asian grocers or a fancy supermarket. They're not cheap, but they take up far less room in the freezer than a whole duck, with the added benefit that they thaw more quickly and are less hassle to roast. Roasting duck really makes the house smell great. Great, that is, to a carnivore. Not sure how vegetarians would feel about the fatty aromas that emanated from my oven not too long ago, but I was a happy camper.

I had originally wanted to try the type of Chinese sausage we normally buy, the long, slender, and wrinkled type that are cured, dried, and lightly smoked, but we were out. Mr Minx popped over to Asia Foods on York Road but could only find stubby, fat, uncured sausages. Fortunately, they turned out to be absolutely perfect for this dish.

While the duck got a head start on roasting, I opened up a couple cans of cannelini beans and added a bit of flavoring. I didn't want to overdo it, so started with equal parts doubanjian (a spicy Chinese bean paste), soy sauce, and black vinegar. If you've never used black vinegar, you're missing out on some amazing caramelized goodness. One tablespoon of each was perfect - the beans were spicy, salty, and tangy, with that lovely molasses-y flavor of the black vinegar. Then I added a bit of sugar to round everything out. Mixed with sauteed onions and scallions, the beans, studded with chunks of Chinese pork sausage, made a tasty bed for the duck legs as they finished roasting to a brown crispness.

Cassoulet with Asian Flavors

2 duck legs
1/2 cup duck or bacon fat
Kosher salt
1/2 pound Chinese pork sausages, preferably xiang chang--small, fat, uncured sausages
1 medium onion, chopped
6 scallions, chopped
6 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chicken stock
2-15 1/2 ounce cans of cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
1-2 tablespoons doubanjian
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar
Pinch sugar
Cilantro

Preheat the oven to 300°F.

Pour the duck or bacon fat into the bottom of an 8" or 9" baking pan. Put the legs on top, rolling them around in the fat to get them coated. Sprinkle with salt, cover the pan with foil, and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove the foil from the pan. Pour out a tablespoon of fat and reserve; prick the duck skin all over with the point of a knife to help render out more fat. Add the Chinese sausages to the pan. Turn oven temperature up to 350° and put duck and sausages into the oven. Bake for an additional 15 minutes.

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the onion and scallions in the reserved tablespoon of duck fat. When they are translucent, stir in the garlic. Add the stock, beans, doubanjian, soy, vinegar, and sugar. Bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat.

After the duck has been in the oven for the additional 15 minutes, remove sausages and duck from the pan. Pour out the fat and discard (or, reserve for a later use). Cut sausages into thick diagonal slices and stir into the bean mixture. Pour the bean mixture into the pan, then top with the duck legs. Put pan back into the oven and cook for an additional 45 minutes or so. The duck will get crispy and brown, as will the exposed areas of beans. If you want a saucier cassoulet, you can add more chicken stock. Personally, I like the beans on the dry side.

Serve 1 leg per person, with some of the beans. Garnish with cilantro.

Serves 2, with extra beans for lunch.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Cookbook Review - Fusion Food in the Vegan Kitchen

I was sent a review copy of Fusion Food in the Vegan Kitchen: 125 Comfort Food Classics, Reinvented with an Ethnic Twist! by Joni Marie Newman some weeks ago and didn't get around to cooking anything from it until now. There were just too many interesting choices, and I couldn't make up my mind as to which recipes to try.

I'm a fan of fusion cooking--taking elements from different cuisines and mixing them in one dish--and have been doing it for years. The way I think about it, seemingly disparate cuisines have similarities: Italian ravioli and spaghetti and Chinese dumplings and lo mein; Slavic rice-stuffed cabbage and Greek rice-stuffed grape leaves; the spicy cumin and coriander flavors of both Mexican and Indian foods. To me, Newman's fusion concoctions make sense. And while I'm not a vegan, I'm not adverse to experimentation. In this case, it's easy--there are many cultures that don't consume the vast quantity of animal-based products that we do in the US. Combine two or three of them, and there's enough good stuff going on without adding meat.

Take, for example, Newman's recipe for Korean Barbecue Satay, which mixes elements from Korea (the sauce) and Indonesia (the technique). The sauce is flavorful enough to give slabs of skewered tofu a nice kick in the pants. The recipe for El Paso Egg Rolls stuffed with black beans, corn, and avocado will be familiar to anyone who's eaten a similar dish at Chili's or Cheesecake Factory. There are so many things going on in it, so many textures and flavors, that nobody will miss the meat or cheese.

In that vein, we tried a recipe for pizza, something usually found topped with both meat and cheese. Newman's version involves a crisp crust, a Thai-style peanut sauce, and a salad of cabbage and sliced fennel. We didn't have cabbage on hand, but we did have sugar snap peas and asparagus, so I substituted. The combination of crisp and fresh with the contrast of creamy peanut sauce was really stupendous. I can see myself making this recipe over and over, using whatever vegetables that are on hand.

The dish was even visually beautiful, the proverbial feast for the eyes.

I also appreciate that Newman gets creative with her meat substitutes. There are recipes that involve tofu and tempeh, but also jackfruit, which has a stringy/meaty texture that simulates pulled pork. And several recipes involve home-made "wheat meat" or seitan, a simple technique that involves vital wheat gluten, an ingredient found in any supermarket (it's also used for baking bread).

Overall, Fusion Food in the Vegan Kitchen is a lovely book with a good solid concept, well-thought-out recipes, and photos for most dishes. There are even recipes for desserts and libations. I recommend it for vegans and meat-eaters alike.

* 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.

Top Chef Texas Finale Part 1 Recap

Sorry this is late, but I spent six hours on Thursday in a hospital waiting room and had absolutely no desire to do this when I got home later that evening. I'm not really in the mood now, to tell the truth, but I shall endeavor to do my best.

Oh, and Bravo must have completely lost control of their internmonkeys, as there are no episode photos on the site yet again.

This week's episode presented part one of what is apparently a three part finale. THREE parts. Why, Bravo, why? That makes 17 weeks of near-torture, as this has been one of the most uninteresting seasons with the most unlikable cast of characters yet. Except for Ed, who didn't make the cut last week, much to my chagrin. (And his too, I'll bet.) Sometimes the finale of a season is its saving grace, because who doesn't like to watch the three or four strongest chefs in magnificent battle? But this year it looks to be all style and no substance. I can't stand either of the Mean Girls, bland-faced Lindsay or gummy Sarah. Paul, however, is adorable and, with five Elimination Challenge wins under his belt this season, should have this competition in the bag. Should. Unfortunately, I do believe Stefan also had five E.C. wins in season 5 before he did something stupid in the finale, ultimately losing to that other bald guy...you know, that chef who is so damn popular that I can't remember his name. Um...he's really really famous. In some remote town in Colorado.

And then there's Bev. Honestly, I'd LOVE to see Bev win this thing. But of course she doesn't.

The cheftestants meet up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Mean Girls are thrilled to see each other, happy to see Paul, but none of them seem particularly pleased to see that thorn in their sides, Bev. Once loaded into their Toyota Sponsormobile, they're instructed via Post-It on the steering wheel to meet Padma and Tom at Whistler, a ski resort. At Whistler, the four catch one of those slow-moving death traps called a gondola up the mountain. Yes, I've probably seen too many disaster movies in my lifetime, but I must admit that if I was one of the remaining chefs, I'd have to forfeit the prize right then and there. I have such a fear of falling, particularly from suspended objects like ferris wheels and those chair rides in amusement parks, that I couldn't set foot one onto the gondola. Not even if you promised me that George Clooney was waiting for me on the other side with a big mug of hot chocolate and a smile. I'm staying on terra firma, y'all. None of the four seem to have my issues, although Paul does admit to motion sickness, and they manage to make it to the top in one vomit-free piece.

At the top, it's hella windy, and we are nearly treated to a scene of Padma's legs being snapped like twigs in a gale (not a Gail). She and Tom gleefully welcome the Final Four to Whistler and tell them that since this was a site for the 2010 Winter Olympics, they will be holding a Culinary Games there. (Here's where the style over substance thing comes in.) This week's challenge will feature three events; the winner of each event will win $10,000, and, at the end of all three, one chef will be eliminated. The first event involves cooking a dish in a moving gondola. They are already 7000 feet above sea level, and it's cold, so the cheftestants will have to take that into account. Plus, a death trap gondola ride is only 22 minutes long, so that's all the time they have to cook. Additionally, at one point during the ride, they will have to jump out of the gondolas and choose another ingredient to add to their dishes.

Each basket of doom gondola is equipped with induction burners and piles of random food, so the chefs have to think on their feet while trying not to look down. Paul makes lamb chops which don't brown as well as he'd like; Sarah is scattered; Bev wisely chooses to make a cold salmon tartare dish; Lindsay has trouble getting her shit together, but manages at the last minute.

Olympic Snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler is the guest judge for this event. The four dishes are sampled and Lindsay's is chosen as the winner. She gets 10K and an automatic spot in the next round of the finale. Whee.

Mean Girls 1, Bev 0.

Paul, Sarah, and Bev must then compete in what might be the stupidest and most dangerous event in Top Chef history. All of their raw ingredients are frozen into giant blocks of ice which they must remove with the aid of ice picks. Tom provides the soundbite,"flash-frozen food is the next best thing to fresh," and I'm surprised that he doesn't add a plug for Healthy Choice or Schwann's or maybe his own brand of pre-packaged comestibles. (I'm thinking that a kid-friendly dish of hoop-shaped pasta--ColicchiOs--with either mini meatballs or chunks of hot dog, could be a big hit.) The chefs have one hour to retrieve their food and cook, outdoors, in the cold. Presumably medics are standing nearby with such necessities as frostbite medication and bourbon.

Paul manages to hack his ingredients out of the glacier first, then helps the girls somewhat by pushing the ice blocks down on the ground for them. Beverly, probably because she is so small and doesn't have a lot of arm strength, needs almost thirty minutes of their alloted time, many ice picks, frying pans, and screaming, to rescue her items from the ice. It's amazing she didn't stab herself in the process. Or oops!--stab Sarah. (I'm betting that if Heather were still around, she would have contemplated disemboweling Bev. Accidentally!)

Eventually everyone completes the stab-and-grab portion of the program and cooks their dishes. The guest judge for this event is Canadian Skeleton medalist Jon Montgomery. Sheesh. They can't even get interesting guest judges for this episode. How about Apolo Ono, people?  Heck, even Dorothy Hamill would work. Anyhoo...Paul wins with his crab and mango dish, grabs his money and guaranteed spot in Finale: Part Two, and goes off to find a heating pad and a bottle of Jack.

For the final challenge, Sarah vs. Bev, they have to run a "culinary biathlon" in which they cross-country ski for a few hundred feet for no good reason at all, then score ingredients at the shooting range. The teaser before the last commercial break is pretty special. First, Bev is on the ground, gun in hand, shooting at something. Next we see Sarah falling off her skis and onto her ample ass. It's very Claudine Longet. If you don't get that reference, you're too young. Also, you're lucky you didn't have to live through the 1970s, the period I like to call the "Harvest Gold Years." (Thanks, Kristine!)

Neither of them has ever skied, and Bev has never shot a gun, but she smokes Sarah in both parts of the competition. Once they've scored as many ingredients as possible by shooting the corresponding target with one of their ten shots, the two race to a kitchen to cook a dish for the judges, including Olympic Skier Cammi Granato. Both Sarah's and Bev's dishes are delicious, but both have problems with their protein. Bev's is a bit hidden under all of her other ingredients, overcooked as well, but she's gone out of her Asian-fusion comfort zone and that impresses. Sarah's rabbit is dry, but her combination of cherries and hazelnuts is a big hit.

And the loser is...Bev. Of course. She was a fierce competitor in this finale, and she should be quite proud of herself.

Next week: "Only two of you will go to the finale." What? I thought this WAS the finale?

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Social Eatz

Season 7 & 8 Top Cheftestant Angelo Sosa--everybody's favorite "Asian on the inside" with tight pants on the outside--has opened a new restaurant by the name of Social Eatz. (His last effort, Xie Xie, though well-received, closed in 2010.) While Social Eatz is admittedly a pretty odd name (isn't eating out in a restaurant, by its very nature, "social?" and the "z" is just dumb), the restaurant has a good concept: adding an Asian twist to American favorites like hamburgers, hot dogs, and tacos.

Coincidentally, Social Eatz opened its doors for its first lunch on the same day I was visiting New York, and I couldn't pass up that bit of good fortune. Chef Sosa was in the kitchen; I was seated close enough to hear his voice, and occasionally, he'd pop out and look into the cheerful orange dining room that was branded everywhere with the blobular Social Eatz logo, including the table topz. (His pants, sadly, appeared to be of the baggy variety that day.)

The current menu is made up of (relatively) small plates and sandwiches.While the bibimbap burger sounded tempting, I opted to try smaller and less-filling items on my first visit. My server recommended ordering two or three, so I went for the Korean-style beef tacos served on a corn tortilla with a bit of seasoned mayo and a bean sprout kimchee, and the "hot wingz" which also had a Korean vibe.

Put anything on a tortilla and I am a happy girl. Put something delicious on, and I'm even happier. The generous portion of meat had a sweet and savory flavor, and the other accoutrements added balancing creamy and tangy sensations. My only complaint is that the dish could have been spicier. Korean food can be incendiary, and I wanted at least a little heat.

I could also have done with more heat on the so-called "hot" wingz (yes, I died a little inside ordering something with a z at the end of the name). Ok, they were hot - in temperature. Those little buggers were actually pretty sizzling, so I busied myself with my tacos while the wings cooled down. When finally able to bite into a wing, I found they had a nice crisp crust and mildly sweet, gochujang-like sauce, but none of the expected chile punch.

And then suddenly I understood where the "z" came in. As in snoring. While both dishes were tasty enough, neither of them made me want to jump up and slap my poor dead mother.

Both the tacos and the wings were extremely messy to eat. My server, noticing my sticky-handed peril as I attempted to do a crossword puzzle while eating, rescued me with a damp hot cloth, like the kind one gets at the beginning of a meal at some sushi restaurants. A nice touch.

When my plates were cleared, I was asked if I wanted another savory course, or to try dessert. While I would have liked to try the spring rolls, or the "ribz," or the kung pao sandwich, I had to save myself for a dinner date for early in the evening and went for what I hoped was a light dessert--cream puffs with a yuzu cream.

After waiting for several minutes, I received my fried-to-order dessert. I loved the consistency of the filling - it was an extremely light custard with a tangy citrus flavor, with still more tang provided by the yuzu sugar sprinkled on the puffs and at the bottom of the dish.

Overall, I think Social Eatz has a lot of promise; the whole Asian-inspired small plates thing really turns me on. The menu, on paper (laminated paper, actually), is full of items that I'd love to eat, and I'll most likely go back to try a burger at some point.

Social Eatz
232 East 53rd St
New York, NY 10022
(212) 207-3339


Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.