Chilaquiles

Maybe I'm just swimming in Spicehound's wake . . . . First meal in the new place was an easy one as kitchen items are coming in one box at a time. After visiting Pzzaz! in Rocky River, a great little store that primarily carries salsas, hot sauces, and rubs, I wound up with some CaJohns Raspberry Chipotle Salsa (from Columbus, OH--it may not say on the label, but rumor has it that the salsa contains local raspberries) and some great organic blue corn tortilla chips (from Toledo). Cowboy George, the store's proprietor, is shockingly aware of what his products are made of. While I'm normally a traditionalist, and the thought of raspberry salsa grossed me out, I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed the salsa. It also worked great for breakfast.

This was just some heated salsa with chips stirred in. After the chips were soft I cracked two Plum Creek eggs on top, added some salt and pepper, and threw the pan into a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. At that point the egg whites set up a bit and I slid the whole mix onto a plate for a pretty hardy breakfast.

After breakfast a friend came over. We had some Gypsy coffee, picked the rest of the ripe peaches off one of the trees in the yard, and walked over to the Ward 17 Farmer's Market at W65th and W. Clinton. I think I like the new neighborhood.

When is this guy going to run out of tortillas?

Never, I'm afraid. They're just too convenient. Pictured above are tacos with a classic combination of blanched green beans and potatoes--the beans from the garden and the potatoes, Yukon Golds, from the Market. The mix is normally found in enchiladas or tamales, but I just didn't have the patience to defrost some of the wonderful Sonoran style enchilada sauce my (soon to be ex) next door neighbor made for me almost a year ago. And tamales, despite a deep curiosity and love of Mexican cooking, the ones available at Orale in the West Side Market are just too good to justify me bumbling through making them myself (although I have been looking for an excuse to buy a tub of lard at one of the local Mexican grocery stores).

In addition to the potatoes and beans I included some blanched and chopped early cabbage and sliced green serrano pepper, both also from the garden, grated raw cheddar from the Market, a few splashes of Tapatio, and some creme fraiche. Not much visible color contrast, but it was delicious nonetheless.

And the cucumber salad--my take on sunomono I've enjoyed at Japanese restaurants. Here it's just a diced, seeded garden cucumber (marketmore), salt, pepper, and white wine vinegar. It marinated for a few minutes and was refreshing in its simplicity.

A ceviche like no other?

Hog snapper, diced beets, early garlic, cilantro, lime and lemon juice, salt and pepper, a dash of Tapatio.

You can see the acid starting to cook the fish. I love ceviche, and usually go with shrimp in a mix including tomato, red onion, and chilies. But I used what was around, and it was very enjoyable.

And, Ms. Ohio Mom, here you go. While I'm normally not a chain mail kind of guy, I'm no Spice Hound either:

From Cooking in Cleveland . . .
The rules are as follows:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Randomly me ....
1. I just bought a house because it has 3 peach trees in the backyard
2. I miss watching local professional ice hockey
3. One of my guilty pleasures is the Taco Bell 7 Layer Burrito with 2 (or 3) fire sauce packets
4. While I love hot dogs with mustard, and even the Chicago dog, the smell of ketchup on hot dogs makes me a bit nauseous
5. My dream as a child was to be a short order greasy spoon chef (The dream lives on.)
6. I'm not sure I'm ready to tag six people, but I may be soon

Tacos again?

If you're one of the two people who read this blog semi-regularly, you could have seen this coming. The clues were there. Extra corn tortillas from a few posts ago, and a protein heavy meal last post. Too bad there are already so many taco blogs (that last one is close enough).

Above is leftover Millgate Farm ribeye (diced and cooked with salt, pepper, and Bragg's), diced sweet onion, shredded arugula from the garden (we'll see if it's cut-and-come-again), and shredded Meadow Maid cheddar (picked up at the Shaker Farmer's Market, it's made from raw, organic, grass fed cow milk, and a fair deal at $5 a block). Before eating I added some creme fraiche (homemade from Ohio Organic Family Farms lightly pasteurized heavy cream--available at Country Gristmill at the Market--and a bit of my last batch that was made with Vermont Butter & Cheese Company creme fraiche, instead of buttermilk, as a starter) and Tapitio.

I love tacos.

And to go on the record for cheese on tacos. I used to not be for it, and secretly looked down on those who went heavy with the shredded cheese. To me a good taqueria taco has meat, some diced onion, and cilantro and is topped with a squeeze of lime and maybe some hot sauce. But I've been evolving. I still won't ask for a side of cheese at a taqueria (which isn't a problem around here because there's not really one worth discussing, even if Mi Pueblo, the West Side one, does in a pinch), but at home anything goes, especially with the inauthentic tacos I so enjoy. All that being said, I'm still not ready to shred Parmesan on my seafood pasta (but risottos are fair game).

Rethinking the taco

This is really just Part II from two posts back, and keeping with the using leftovers theme. Pictured is the leftover rabbit meat, diced and wok cooked with cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper, and a little soy sauce. Not being quite ready to harvest some of the homegrown lettuce, I chopped up some mizuna that was kicking around. After that, I shredded a few French Breakfast radishes for a topping (and to get some use out of the Japanese mandoline) and quartered one for a traditional garnish. The cheese is from raw cow milk, still hanging in the fridge from the trip up north. In that little silver cup is some creme fraiche thinned with just a bit of water. Doubled up corn tortillas from Super Mercado Rico at W45 and Lorain, a little Tapatio, and it was a truly satisfying meal.

I think tacos are one of the best uses of leftover proteins, or just about anything else (not much better than one with duck confit). Plus, they're versatile. No onions, use radishes. No cilantro, here it was mizuna. Cheese is always optional, hot sauce not so much. And anything sour cream-like absolves all sins. Now to get to work on the rest of the tortillas.

Guacamole

A simple recipe that's more about getting the proportions right than anything else. The picture above is from a batch made with four fairly large avocados. It was enough for my contribution to a potluck with about twenty-five people. It's safe for just about everyone. As for those who swear that they just don't like guacamole, well, there's not much that's going to satisfy them.

Ingredients:
- Ripe avocados, peeled and broken up (Preferably the Hass type, they're dark when they're ripe. Others may work, but I haven't tried them.)
- Plum tomatoes, diced (Really should use plum, as opposed to other, tomatoes here.)
- Red onion, finely diced
- Chile pepper, very finely diced (Jalapeno is classic.)
- Cilantro, chopped
- Lime
- Salt and pepper
Method:
- Squeeze some lemon and lime juice in the bowl that will hold all the ingredients
- Add chunks of peeled avocado to the juices and get the avocado pieces coated with the citrus juice (This will slow down discoloration.)
- Add salt and pepper to avocado and citrus juices
- Mash the avocado, salt and pepper, and citrus juices (I use two forks, but a potato masher would work well. Make sure to get it all smooth, because this is the only real chance to mush everything around. The salt helps the process.)
- Add a whole bunch of diced tomatoes, stirring them in as they are added (It's amazing how much tomato the avocado mixture can handle. Just add until it looks good to you.)
- Reseason with salt and pepper (Don't be shy with the salt, both avocados and tomatoes can handle a large amount of salt. It's shocking how much seasoning you can add.)
- Add diced red onion and stir that in (Again, even if you don't like onion, don't be shy with it here.)
- Now add the diced hot pepper and stir well
- Recheck seasoning (If something's off, this is a good time to fix it, i.e. adding additional lime juice or some more salt.)
- Finally, stir in chopped cilantro (Again, don't be shy with it.)

That's all there is to it. As you can see, there's a significant quantity of the non-avocado ingredients. They don't interfere so much as they complement the completed product, which is guacamole, not just squished avocado. Enjoy.

Versatility:
What's great about this recipe is that it can be a base for many others. Trade the avocado and tomato for mango, and it's a great mango salsa (Sure, that may have been cooler two years ago, but it's still good.). Swapping the avocado for some raw fish (like halibut or flounder), or shrimp, and/or scallops, and adding some extra lemon and lime juice, results a quality ceviche. Whatever you do with this recipe, if you do anything, it will go well with tortilla chips.

Leftovers

It may not be photogenic, but an aversion to throwing things out led to a tasty meal. I ate two of these, in fact.

The result of an embarrassment of riches -- some leftover beef from the Liberty Steak, infra, an extra avocado and some cilantro from making a load of guacamole for an office potluck (I'll cover the guacamole in the near future. It's not a tough thing to make well, and it's a crowd pleaser, if not a ubiquitous one. A few batches of the stuff may have landed me my current job, which, it goes without saying, is not in food service.), some aging garden bounty, and what was lying around in the fridge -- produced the pic above. I'll break it down by taco, sauce, and toppings. Here's what happened:

Taco
Ingredients:
- Leftover cooked steak, diced (Best if it's on the rare side. Pork, tofu, or just about any other non-seafaring protein would work as well.)
- Soy sauce
- Oil
- Salt and pepper
- Corn tortillas (Two per taco.)
Method:
- Heat a dry pan or griddle for the tortillas (Cast iron ideal.)
- Place the tortillas in stacks of two on the hot pan or griddle
- Flip the tortillas, heating up both sides until soft
- While that's happening . . .
- Heat oil in very hot wok or nonstick pan
- Add diced steak and brown up a bit
- Season the cooking meat
- Add a just a few shakes of soy sauce and simmer for about a minute
- Turn off heat leave meat in pan to keep warm

Sauce
Ingredients:
- Ripe avocado
- Lime
- Sweetened Mexican Cream
- Green onion/scallion (greens and whites)
- Hot sauce (I used Tapatio Mexican-style hot sauce, but I suspect a Sriracha would work very well.)
- Honey
- Water
- Salt and pepper
Method:
- Squeeze lime juice into a bowl
- Cut and peel avocado and place it in bowl with lime juice (Mix around so avocado is coated with lime juice to slow down discoloration.)
- Add salt and pepper
- Mash avocado (I used two forks. A food processor would work for this recipe.)
- When smooth add some of the Mexican Cream to taste
- Add hot sauce to taste
- Add honey to taste
- Thin with water, if you'd like
- Add thinly sliced rounds of green onion greens and diced green onion whites

Toppings:
- Finely diced shallots
- Chopped cilantro (Don't be afraid of the stems.)
- Chopped leaf lettuce (I chopped a few leaves of Black Seeded Simpson lettuce with a sharp knife -- it didn't discolor. I never trusted those plastic knife people.)
- Diced tomatilloes

Assembly is obvious. Lots of other toppings are possible. Basics are diced tomatoes, shredded cheese (which may be gilding the lily with the avocado sauce), sunflower seeds . . . it's limitless.

It's also great to make this with just the tortillas, meat, diced onion, cilantro, and a wedge of lime. After all, this is really just a rip-off of a taqueria carne asada taco. And, in all honesty, a good carne asada taco from a taqueria of questionable cleanliness may be better than this gussied up version. But, sadly, such a taco is something that's just not readily available where I live,* and I had some stuff to put to good use.

*If you find yourself craving a taco in the Portland, OR area I recommend, in any order, the following:

- El Taco Express #2, 5447 NE 42nd Ave., Portland;

- La Taqueria Guadalajara, 2032 Pacific Ave., Forest Grove (or any taco truck in the area); and

- King Burrito, 2924 N Lombard St., Portland.

Several years have passed since I enjoyed these places, but if they're still there, they're good, or at least they were. At the P-town spots leave any pretentiousness at the door, and valuables locked in the trunk.