Not Your Ordinary Homemade Tacos
Jeff has been wanting to do taco night at our place for some time now – and last Sunday, it was finally time. Preparation for taco night included acquiring a tortilla press, dried chiles, queso fresco and crema fresca, and mole hand carried back from Mexico by Jeff’s work colleague on a recent trip.
Jeff used the following recipes from Mark Miller’s Tacos
:
Flour Tortillas
Tacos Al Pastor
~Pork shoulder marinated in reduced orange juice, pureed chiles (guajillo, ancho, and pasilla negro), orange zest, brown sugar, garlic, cumin, oregano, salt, black pepper, vinegar, lime juice, cola, and beer. Served with caramelized diced pineapple.~
And these are Jeff’s recipes:
Chicken Mole Tacos
~Chicken breast in mole sauce (chicken broth and mole from market in Mexico). Served with pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and queso fresco.~
Chicken & Chorizo Tacos
~Chicken breast and chorizo sausage. Served with corn salsa, green onions, and crema fresca.~
Homemade tortillas are actually pretty easy to make – and taste WAY better than store bought.
Freshly made guacamole is the best (see recipe here). Believe it or not, we already had this molcajete (mortar – pestle not shown – carved from volcanic rock).
The Spread
crema fresco, corn salsa, chicken & chorizo, and green onion (front left)
queso fresca, pepitas, chicken mole (middle)
caramelized pineapple, marinated pork (back right)
Sooooo good. I think the chicken mole was my favorite.
Nicely done, El Jefe!
On Friday night we knew we wanted to cook dinner at home – inspired by the quiche we had last weekend at Market Table, we decided this might be a good Friday-night-at-home dinner choice.
Quiche Crust
1.5 cups + 3 tbsp flour
9 tbsp cold butter
Pulse ingredients a few times in food processor
Add 1 egg yolk and 1/4 cup cold water
Mix together, form into a ball, and refrigerate for 30 minutes
Roll out crust dough, line quiche pan with dough, and blind bake (bake dough without filler) for 40 minutes at 350 F. Since we didn’t have any pie weights (these keep the dough from puffing up too much during the blind back), we used rice instead (too bad we had to use our good brown rice since that’s all we had). It’s also good to use parchment paper between dough and weights as well as remove weights part way through baking so that quiche crust cooks well.
Cool quiche crust
Sautee mushrooms and shallots (Jeff reduced much of the water in the mushrooms by sauteing and then broiling in the oven)
Start filling up the quiche…
Layer 1.5 cups Emmenthaler and 0.5 cups Gruyere cheeses
Add sauteed mushrooms and asparagus
Pour on 2 cups of heavy cream mixed with 4 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk and salt and pepper
Bake for 45 minutes at 350 F.
Admire beauty of quiche and then eat!
We enjoyed our quiche with a simple mixed greens salad. This quiche was delicious – rich and savory. My only regret is that now I know exactly what ingredients go into a quiche! Tons of butter, eggs, cream, cheese!
A few weeks ago on a very rainy Saturday night, we decided to stay in and Jeff cooked up some great comfort food – roast chicken, green beans, and mac & cheese. Yum!
Roast Chicken
First and most important step – buy a good chicken. We picked up a nice organic free-range bird from WholeFoods.
Next step – truss the chicken properly. Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home has good instructions as well as some nice pictures (actually the whole book has some really beautiful pictures – it’s worth checking out for the pics alone!)
Then season and dress up the chicken as you like. Jeff put put some lemon slices, rosemary, thyme, and butter inside the cavity. He buttered the outside of the bird and added some lemon zest, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper.
Finally, roast the chicken. Start chicken back-side up at a high temperature (425F) for about 15 minutes, then rotate to breast-side up at high temperature (425F) for about 15 minutes, then reduce oven heat to 375F and roast for about 1 hour.
Green Beans Almondine
Green Beans Almondine is actually pretty simple to make. A few years ago, Jeff and I took a cooking class at The Chopping Block in Chicago and this was one of the things we made.
1 pound green beans, ends removed
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup slivered almonds
Salt and Pepper to taste
Bring a pot of water to a boil and add a large pinch of salt. Blanch the beans until they are crisp and tender, about 2 minutes. Shock the beans in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Remove from the water set aside.
Heat a saute pan over medium heat and add the butter. Cook the almonds until they are golden brown. Add the beans and toss to coat. Sean to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
Mac & Cheese with Bacon and Truffle Oil
This dish was inspired by the Mac & Cheese at Bouchon Bakery. We can’t remember the exact recipe, but it went something like this…
For the cheese sauce – make a roux with flour and butter, add milk and simmer, then add cheese (Brie, Parmesean, and Mascarpone). Add cheese sauce to cooked noodles along with bacon and truffle oil. Put some bread crumbs on top and bake. Make sure there is a lot of cheese sauce! We learned this the hard way – thinking there was too much sauce (seemed kind of soupy), we scooped some of it out – bad idea – the mac & cheese dried out while baking. Luckily we kept the extra sauce and added it back after baking.
Last weekend a rare event occurred…
something that happens only once every 3 or 4 years…
Jeff cooked Chicken Tikka Masala.
Chicken Tikka Masala is a wonderful dish full of rich flavors and permeating aromas. The recipe that Jeff uses is actually courtesy of a good friend of his from high school (see below). Though this meal was planned for Saturday night, Jeff began his preparation on Friday – shopping for ingredients, marinating the chicken tikka, and mixing all the powders.
We actually brought all the food up to Greg and Alex’s to cook and enjoy there (Greg and Alex, thanks for letting us cook at your place!) Jeff cooked and cooked and cooked and it all paid off – everything was amazing!
~chicken tikka marinating in the fridge the night before~
~naan, basmati rice and spices – all ready to be carried over to Greg & Alex’s~
~Saturday night…finished chicken tikka~
~chicken tikka cooking in masala sauce~
~basmati rice with peas, cinnamon, and cloves~
~and after much anticipation….it was delicious!~
Ok, here it goes…
Chicken Tikka Masala (for 8oz. Of meat)
*see below for recipe
2 Tbsp Oil
5 Tbsp Basic Curry Sauce (you can use store bought paste and dilute out)
2 tsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Finely chopped cilantro leaves
1 tsp Tandoori powder or paste*
1 tsp Tomato paste
1 tsp Mint Sauce
1 tsp Salt 8 oz Chicken Tikka*, precooked (see below)
3 Tbsp Cream
1) Heat the oil in a pan and cook the basic curry sauce over med. Heat for about 2 minutes.
2) Add the sugar, cilantro, tandoori powder or paste, tomato paste, mint sauce, and salt. Stir well.
3) Add the Chicken Tikka and cook for about 5 minutes until heated thoroughly.
4) Add the cream and mix in thoroughly.
5) Serve with rice
Chicken Tikka
8 oz Chicken breast
2 Tbsp Lemon juice
5 Tbsp Plain yogurt
½ recipe Tikka powder*
1 Tbsp Oil
½ tsp Salt
2 tsp Finely chopped cilantro leaves
1) Cut the chicken into 1” cubes and put in glass bowl. Pour lemon juice over meat; leave while making marinade.
2) Mix together all remaining ingredients in a separate bowl. Add chicken and coat well using hands. Cover and marinate several hours or overnight in fridge.
3) Preheat oven to 375F. Thread chicken on metal skewers. Place in over on baking tray and cook for 20-25 min., turning once or twice.
Tikka Powder – Full recipe for 1lb of meat.
Mix:
1 Tbsp Ground coriander (cilantro)
1 tsp Ground turmeric
1 tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp Ground ginger
1 tsp Chili powder
Pinch/drop of yellow food coloring
Tandoori Powder – makes 2 ¾ cups (11oz. or 300g)
Mix:
4 Tbsp Paprika
4 Tbsp Ground coriander (cilantro)
4 Tbsp Garlic powder
4 Tbsp Ground cumin
1 tsp Ground black pepper
1 tsp Red food coloring powder
1 Tbsp Dried mint
1 Tbsp Chili powder
1 Tbsp Ground ginger
1 tsp Ground cinnamon
1 tsp Ground cardamom seeds
Every so often, Jeff and I like to stay home and make some comfort food like grilled cheese sandwiches. Our visit to Lucy’s Whey definitely inspired us to do just this – we picked up Cabot Clothbound Cheddar and Marieke Gouda, both recommended by Lucy’s Whey. We also picked up a beautiful loaf of bread from Amy’s Bread. Throw in some avocado and honey mustard and the result is one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I’ve ever had. We also added a mixed greens salad with pine nuts, parmesan, and home-made vinaigrette.
So I figured it was time to devote some attention to the workhorses of our kitchen…my knives.
To set the stage, I am proud to have a completed set of JA Henkel knives that I have built over the years. I love my German knives and have cooked many a great meal with them, but when confronted with the annual question of “What do you want for Christmas this year?”, I immediately responded, “the greatest chef’s knife in the world.”
After multiple google searches, I triangulated the results to the Misono UX 10 series and ended up with 2 knives from Korin.
1) Misono UX10 Gyutou (240mm / 9.4in)
2) Misono UX10 Petty (150mm / 5.9in)
Here is Korin.com’s description:
The Misono UX10 is the best of the Misono knives. The blade is top-quality Swedish stain-resistant steel, but has a hardness (HRC 59-60) comparable to carbon steel. Another feature is its unique slanted nickel/silver bolster that balances the weight of the blade and handle. The UX10 is extremely sharp and comfortable to use. Its appearance and performance are spectacular.
Here is a user review:
The Misono chef knife has it all. The knife has great balance, high quality steel, a very steep angled edge for super sharpness and a light, bolsterless design that is very attractive. Our only complaint when testing the knife was the tip was so sharp that the knife would grab the cutting board when laying it down.
“So sharp that the knife would grab the cutting board???” – I don’t necessarily see that last sentence as “negative”…
So 2 months in, what are my thoughts? Amazing, spiritual, unequivocal…To be frank, these things are scalpels. I fear the day that I accidentally cut myself, but I am really hoping that by sticking to high quality steel, those days will be less frequent. Below is a comparison of some of our blades – please note, that I have some ceramic knives that these steel bad boys put to shame.
You be the judge…
