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Stimulate! Stimulate!

I live for Science Fiction.  The first movie I can remember seeing was Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.  The entire scene where Han Solo and Chewbacca took that first jump to light speed in the Millennium Falcon is so deeply imprinted in my mind that I can recall sitting on my couch, holding my younger brothers’ Downey soft teddy bear tight against my chest while sucking my thumb, enthralled.

And like all things that we love, we suffer through the growing pains.  We become giddy with new installments.  And we shake our heads with disappointment and swear that for the next five minutes the entire genre doesn’t exist to us.  It’s almost like we’re children on the playground with pouting lips and tear stained dirt masks on our faces.  I believe that “Sunshine” and “Serenity” were the last times that Science Fiction excited me.  Before tonight that is.

“Sunshine” gave me that deeply needed apocalyptic darkness that only a story by Asimov could portray.  Never mind the fact that it wasn’t written by Isaac Asimov.

“Serenity” on the other hand offered my geektastically ridden mind with what I believe to be a very realistic approach to our future should we not continue to ignore the possibilities of space exploration.

Neither of which gave me hope.

Many Apologies!

I had this brilliant plan to start a new little corner of the net – dedicate it to my personal holy trinity and have some fun with it.  And then I started this contract.  My brain has shut down.  All I can think about is the information I’m repetitively typing into my computer.  Losing in formation, starting from scratch. It’s behind my eyelids when I close my eyes.  I’m scared…

Hopefully this weekend I’ll get something up.  My apologies!

Spicy Nom.

This week, no, this month has really been about food for me. And my jeans told me too. That morning when the size 9’s just don’t want to make your ass look spectacular anymore. But, with that realization I got back on my couple years derailed slow food train. Except, not entirely slow food. It’s a balanced approach! And when have I ever eaten weird low fat organic diet food? I don’t…

So, these are the creations of note that are bouncing in my brain like giddy little children right now.

Naughty Naughty.

1 quart peeled garlic cloves

9 Habenero Peppers

2 Tbsp Onion Powder

12oz White Vinegar

1 tbsp Salt

1 tbsp Black Pepper

1 tbsp chili powder

Liquify and combine.

Don’t Kiss the Crab!

Cream:

1 cup packed and minced cilantro

2 tbsp lemon juice

8 oz Sour Cream

1 tsp Cumin

1 tbsp minced garlic

Salt and Pepper to taste

COMBINE! In a bowl…

Cakes:

1/4 cup Mayo

3 cloves minced garlic

2 tbsp red pepper

2 large egg yolks

2 tbsp cilantro – minced

1 tbsp spicy mustard

1 tbsp lemon zest

1/4 tsp pepper

1 lb crab meat

1 1/2 cup bread crumbs

Combine! And Shape! And fry! I use these little round cookie cutters to form them and fry them in. They work perfectly! Don’t use plastic ones. Common sense. I know it’s a rare commodity.

Oil or butter or ghee for frying.

ROTI!

6 Tbsp West Indian Curry Powder

2 tbsp minced garlic

1/2 scotch bonnet pepper minced. (Use more or less depending on desired heat)

4 tbsp minced green onions

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 lbs goat meat (Lamb or Pork work very well too.)

3 tbsp butter

3 tbsp veg oil

2 chopped tomatos

2 1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 quart water

4 minced shallots

Combine curry, garlic, scotch bonnets, shallots, green onions and vinegar. Add meat and toss each piece with the seasoning. Cover and let sit in the fridge for 8-12 hours.

~~

Heat butter and oil in a dutch oven or other such pot. Add meat and brown. Add water, tomatos, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and reduce the liquid to 1/8 and meat is tender. Add a cornstarch slurry or arrowroot to thicken remaining liquid.

~~

Roti Bread

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup olive oil

Combine all and mix well. Knead the dough for 1-2 minutes and wrap in plastic. Put in the fridge for a half hour.

~~

Divide dough into portions and roll out. Add filling and wrap. Add oil, butter or ghee to a frying pan and melt. Once wrapped, cook the roti in the pan. Viola!

Or you can cook the roti skins in the pan without the filling and then add later. I served it with fried plantains. Very nom.

I Wanted to Write a Cookbook Once.

Hamburgers for the Baja Surfer

This is a pretty simple meal that requires a lot of cutting. Fun, refreshing it’s good for lunch or dinner but be warned, they’re an addicting habit!

The kitchen utensils you’ll need:
A sturdy cutting board (As I said, there’s a lot of chopping.)
Culinary knife of choice (I prefer a 17” chef knife but it’s really a question of comfort.)
Large bowl
Wooden or metal spatula (As long as you have some fish ripping ability with it.)
2 Sauté pans (Yeah, fry pans works perfectly too!)
Salad tongs (Two spoons are just as good.)

Shopping list:
_______ 1 lb Tilapia – Now, almost any fish will work. Swordfish, Tuna and Tilapia are my two favorite to use. But you can also do this recipe with beef, chicken, pork… really anything you want. For vegetarian hamburgers, just use eggplant. Try to go fresh whatever you use, frozen does not work as well for this recipe.
_______ 6 limes – Lemons, Key limes, bottled citrus juice even a blood orange would be excellent.
_______ 2 tbs garlic – Garlic is garlic, don’t like it then don’t use it. (I think those people are weird) I actually use more garlic than this, but as before, it’s a decision of taste.
_______ 2tbs olive oil – Peanut oil is also tres bien! I’m sure you could play with a wide variety of oils; my only suggestion is try to stay away from the more delicate oils. Avocado oil, truffle oil… we can use that type of thing later.
_______ 1 Mango – MANGOS! Okay, done now…
_______ 1 Cabbage – Okay, with the cabbage and the papaya you won’t be using it all.
_______ 4 Tomatoes – Red, firm, ripe. Some like them fat, some like them long. How I like mine and you like yours is bound to be different. Fact is, they’re all going to bring a kick of flavor to this so go with your favorite.
_______ 2 Shallots  - They’re often by the garlic in the produce section.
_______ 2 onions – This I will stomp my feet down on, YELLOW ONIONS please?
______ 1 Jalapeño – My partner is a wuss, so I make this a bit weak. Just add more of these little green beanies for more heat. To roast them, just hold the little bugger with some tongs over the burners of the stove on high. Even with an electric you’ll get that roasted taste so long as you’re sure to toss into an air tight container directly after till it cools.
______ 1 bunch of Cilantro – Tsk tsk. Cilantro is the base. It stays.
______ 2 Avocados – Eh, not everyone is a fan of Avocados, but truth be known they’re good for you. So, forget ‘bout it! Oh yeah, Haas Avos please.
______ 1 Papaya – And like the cabbage you won’t be needing a good portion of this, papaya is good for a few things, cut it into some nice wedges. Sprinkle a dash of salt and chili powder on them and there’s an excellent appetizer or toss it quickly on the grill, not long enough to cook just long enough to cook in the flavor of the chili powder.
______ 1 Red pepper – Yes! Red!
______ White Wine Vinegar – Aji Marin is the only substitute I’d advise.
______ Tequila – Totally optional
______ Salt and Pepper – I suggest sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. But I’m picky.
______ Cumin – This can be substituted with Lemon Grass or Ginger
______ Chili Powder

The Process

Anais Nin wrote, “Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through…” This dish like that, a series of states.
The first state is one of cutting, we must destroy the produce!
Limes – Halve 4 limes, cut the other 2 into 6 wedges
Garlic – Minced unless you have the pre-minced stuff
Shallots – Minced
Mango – medium cube, half a bite sized piece.
Cabbage – only need half or less so my suggestion is to cut off what you need and julienne it or cut into fine strips.
Tomatoes – You need to seed this first, easiest way is to cut off the top and pull out that sour gelatin and seeds with your fingers (clean, I would hope) or a melon baller. Then cut that into a small cube or small pieces.
Jalapeño – Seed those puppies, remove the white ribs and give it a good mince.
Cilantro – Minced
Avocados – Avo cleaning 101: cut in half around the seed, wiggle into two pieces. Take your knife and give the seed a good straight on whack (mind your appendages), you should then be able to work the seed out and pop it off the knife. You can then get a good sized soup spoon and remove the meat from the skin. Or if you’re inclined, cut through it easily without breaking the skin and just empty the chopped avocado from the skin and into the bowl!
Papaya – Need to skin and seed this baby. I find using a knife to cut away the skin and a spoon to remove the seeds to be easiest. You only need to use a ¼ of this, but it does need a small cube.
Red pepper – Seeded, ribbed and chopped! Small cube please!

Now… before you go about tossing all of this yummy goodness together, it doesn’t all wind up in the same place. This is where you need your large bowl. Once you have that, add a tbs of garlic, 1 shallot, the juice from 6 of those lime halves, 1 tbs olive oil, the jalapeño, avocados. Toss those together before adding the mangos, papaya, red pepper, tomatoes and a good portion of that cilantro. Mix that thoroughly and work in salt, pepper and chili powder to taste. Cover it, stick it in the fridge and move on doggie!

Aha! Wield that sauté pan now you might kitchen warrior! Just don’t forget the fish. As soon as you get that pan over medium – medium high heat on your stove add a tbs of olive oil, garlic and the other shallot. Coat the bottom of that pan well! Once it starts it’s friendly, fragrant sizzling toss in that fishy with some salt, pepper and chili powder. Get to breaking up at the fish as it cooks. Tilapia is a very delicate fish, for something heartier all you need to do is sear it in strips. Once you get the tilapia broken up a bit, add the juice of the last two lime halves to the pan. Keep breaking that fish down and mixing up all the flavors of the pan.

As that’s finishing up, it’s time to start preparing the tortillas. I’ve used pita bread, naan bread and traditional tortillas with this and all work well. The basic idea is just to heat those puppies up. I traditionally use a fry pan to get my tortillas a little bit crispy, but once again it’s a question of preference.

You should be done now and only you know how best to have a taco. A big of fish, some cabbage, and a bit of the salsa and topped off with a squeeze of fresh lime juice and a sprinkle of cilantro is my picture perfect finish.

Serving and Beverage Suggestions:
I usually serve this with black beans or rice. Never too much though as the burgers are usually preferred.

To drink, a nice white wine, a good hefty margarita, a good Mexican beer, even a coke with a twist of lime juice (Not that pre-flavored crap).

And enjoy!

From Another Life…

A few recipes I’ve found from a period of a few years where I worked as both a Sommelier and a Demo Cook for Trader Joe’s.

Yin and Yang Salad

1 Herb Salad Mix (Or Spring Mix basically the same thing.)
1 Baby Lettuce Mix
1 6oz container Feta Cheese
1 bag pecans (small bag)
4-6 oz Fresh Strawberries
1/2 bag dried cranberries

Pomegrante Walnut Vinegarette

2-3 oz Pomegrante Vinegar
2tsp Dijon Mustard
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1/4 jar mixed fruit spread
5-6oz Walnut OIl
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp Salt
2/3 tsp Sugar

Cacioppo Bread Pudding

1 loaf Panettone bread sliced in 1″ cubes
2 tbsp Butter
2 1/2 cups milk – bring close to boil with butter.
4 egg yolks – whisk with sugar and spice then slowly whisk in milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsb pumpkin pie spice

Layer 1/2 bread in pan then pour 1/2 milk mixture over top.  Top with remaining bread then remaining milk.  Bake at 400 for 40 min.