Cinco de Mayo Taco Party

El Pollo Loco

Many years ago (in a galaxy far, far away),I lived by myself in a studio in the Marina district of San Francisco. This first solo apartment was great, except for the parking.

In that tiny place, I became serious about cooking and experimenting with different foods. Since it was just me, I got to make whatever I wanted, and I wanted to try everything. But since it was just me, I could only eat so much so I decided to invite a few friends over. It was in this postage-stamp-sized-apartment I held my first dinner party and my need to feed my people began.

It is well established that I love Mexican food, therefore it should come as no surprise that the first time I cooked for a crowd it was for Cinco de Mayo. The April/May 1998 issue of Fine Cooking Magazine had an article called Toss A Taco Party with Ease. That’s what I did.

Most of my friends were guys, so it didn’t really matter what I cooked for them. They were going to eat it ’cause chances were that it was way better than the food substance of questionable origin and freshness that they consumed at their last meal. I ended up making all three taco recipes, which were a hit with the dudes. Of course, the fact that it was free food and beer may have had something to do with it. The tasting-good part was an added bonus. We had a great time which is what it is really all about when friends get together.

All three of these recipes can be made ahead and re-heated—which is great since Cinco de Mayo is on Monday, and you may not have time to pull it all together after work.

Happy Cinco de Mayo and enjoy! Read more…

Italian Stuffed Flank Steak

Non-Conformist Easter

When you have a holiday that involves a traditional food, it is easy to get bored. (Except Thanksgiving. You don’t mess with Thanksgiving.) For me, it’s Easter.

Don’t get me wrong, there are things that I love about Easter but for some reason, this holiday more than any other makes me food-fidgety. (Yup. That’s a technical term.)

My sister hosts our Easter get togethers. Sometimes it’s brunch. Sometimes it’s dinner and, from time to time, it’s yelling in a clown’s mouth on the road to a soccer tournament.

This year our extended family is having brunch, which means that I will be doing my own thing for dinner. I’ve decided I’m going to go against all tradition and cook beef.

I have a large collection of recipe pages from classes at Tante Marie in the city. They are in plastic sheet covers, housed in 3-ring binders, and for the most part they sit on my shelf. From time to time, I flip through them looking for a particular recipe or inspiration. Last weekend I was thumbing through the pages when I saw one of my favorite recipes—Italian Stuffed Flank Steak. I decided then and there that I must make it for Easter dinner because: I’m just not all that excited about roasting a Leg of Lamb, it is so stinkin’ great, and Easter is as good an excuse as any.

Italian Stuffed Flank Steak is adapted by Tante Marie from a Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso recipe in The New Basics Cookbook. It takes some patience. Rolling the flank steak can be tricky. (Having another set of hands can be helpful). But it will always taste good no matter what the perfection police have to say about your rolling abilities. Read more…

Medallions of Veal with Wild Mushrooms

Lost In Translation

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word April? Most people, I think, would say Spring. My first response? Paris. Not sure why—maybe it’s the song. I’m not one of those people you could call a francophile. I’ve only been to France, and Paris specifically, once. And even then my husband and I were there only a couple of days before heading out to eat and drink our way through the rest of the country, on our honeymoon road trip.

Perhaps it’s the romance. Springtime along the Seine does have it’s appeal. (A little wine. A little cheese. A baguette. The occasional Mime…) We, or course, were there in the Fall. It’s not a conscious decision to go against the grain. It just happens that way, not ’cause we’re hip and cool. We’re just a few degrees off normal.

We ate well, and my reasonable grasp of the French language served us in our travels…most of the time. There was one dinner where my over-confidence came back to bite me.

In the town of Montignac, just north of the Lascaux caves, we were staying at a great B&B. But we decided to go out to dinner that night instead of eating at the inn. We found a cute little bistro, and sat down for what we hoped would be a great meal.

Everything started well. I ordered in French and the waiter seemed to understand me but I knew I should have been concerned when I ordered the Rognon de Veau as our entrée and he looked impressed. The Veau part was easy to translate, Veal, but the Rognon part was way off base. Somehow (maybe it was the wine?) I got Rognon mixed up with Medallion when in fact Rognon means Kidney. I had ordered Veal Kidneys y’all! (Thank you karma. Yes you were right. I was getting too big for my britches.)

I’m an adventurous eater, but I draw the line at organ meats. (Pate being the exception). The tragic part was that up until that point our meal was outstanding, and you know that if we had been kindey eatin’ kind of people it would have been really good. I give my husband credit. He at least gave it a go. I couldn’t do it but I did eat everything else on my plate. The waiter snickered when he cleared our plates from the table.

The recipe below is what I pictured in my mind and what I thought we would be eating. Try not to snicker when you eat it! Read more…

Nitrate-Free Corned Beef

Corned Beef

Kiss Me, I’m Irish…Not Really.
When we got married, my husband knew that he was getting a wife who could cook. What he didn’t know was that he was marrying someone who is culinarily (is that even a word?!?) nuts. If I find some celebration, cuisine or ingredient that fascinates me, fasten your seat belts! Like it or not, you are going on this ride of discovery with me as taste-testers, guinea pigs, or unsuspecting victims. This is how the Moroccan Dinner came to be. It is also why I have pickles of many shapes and flavors decorating my shelves—there are too many to eat. It is also why my bookcase is filled with books I may only take out once a year.

Here’s the perfect example: Monday is St. Patrick’s Day. So do I go out and celebrate like the rest of the world with green beer and shamrock shakes? Nope. That would be the normal thing to do…though normal is relative.

This year I am going to corn my own beef for our St. Patrick’s Day dinner. You may first ask yourselves “why?”. The answer is I am compelled to do it, and resistance is futile. The second question may be “Is this a request from my family?” No. “Is it for a school project about St. Patrick’s Day?” No. “Are you Irish?” Nope. I’m just nuts.

I get these ideas in my head about wanting to taste things the way they are supposed to taste, the way they were originally prepared back in the day when you walked out into the pasture to get that night’s dinner, and before mass production was an option. I become obsessed with authenticity. So when I can’t find someone who makes things the “right” way, I give in to my psychosis and make it myself. This is why I’m corning my own beef.

It used to be that butchers would make their own corned beef and people would buy it by the pound—and not just on St. Patrick’s Day. For years we made it here at the store, until people just stopped eating corned beef regularly. Of course the last of our guys to do it took the recipe with him when he left.

I am trying a corned beef recipe I found in Michael Symon’s book Carnivore. It may not be “super authentic” but it’s my first go ’round. Next time I can be psycho authentic chick. It’s nitrate free (which is always a good idea) so the meat won’t have the usual pink hue. I am looking forward to the results and the corned beef hash. Read more…