pastameshugana
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Posts posted by pastameshugana
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Countdown to disco time.
I've got my raw ingredients ready:
What you see is the meat: Chopped bacon, pork filet, and chorizo. A separate bowl for chili and garlic, and one for onions (red and green). I had to chop the chiles (anaheim, red jalapeno, serrano) large b/c we've got some non-chili-heads coming over that may want to pick them out. (I did however, surreptitiously crush into tiny bits a small handful of dried chile pequin that they'll never find! If they don't like it, more leftovers for me! Bhuwhahahahaa!)
The basic method:
Melt some lard in the disco (I may try a little coke as well, who knows), add bacon till lots of fat releases, move it out of the way (to the side of the disco). Add the chorizo to the bacon-y lard (I'll add the chili and garlic at this point), when about 1/2 done move it to the side. Add the pork to the middle and cook a while, then add some spices, the onions, and bring it all together and toss to finish. I'm adding the onions late so they'll stay crunchy and sweet-ish for some texture.
I forgo the traditional 'wieners' or sausage in this dish because I really don't care for them.
One more beauty shot:
I'll update later on this one!
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OH THAT BREAD!!!
That looks professional. I'm impressed!!
Thanks - you should've seen the last one, I was much, much happier with it... but oh well - still tasted great. -
Thanks! I might make that for dinner tomorrow night. And I have french bread for croutons, it's like it was meant to be!
Some things in life are too tasty to be coincidence!
BTW - I love your signature line!
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That soup looks great! Care to share proportions? Have you ever eaten it cold, or is it better warm?
Hmm - I've never thought about eating it cold - but I'm also not big on cold soups. I bet it would work, though.
For this batch we used: 3 large leeks, 6 medium potatoes, 7 (anemic) carrots, 4 green zucchini, 2 yellow squash, 6 stalks celery, 6 cloves garlic, and 1/2 can of diced green chilies (a last minute addition), 12 cups of chicken stock for the simmering.
When just about to serve, one 1/2 pint carton of heavy cream was stirred in. Last night we had some 'vegetable haters' in the house, and they all had seconds and thirds!
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Well, here's a few pics from the rest of the prep for tonights dinner.
Challa out of the oven:
The bread really isn't as brown as the pictures make it look. It was cooked nearly perfect, but the color correction is wacking these photos out. This is, however, actually one of the more disappointing challas I've made. I used all-purpose instead of bread flour, and it wasn't perfect. Still darn good and there's barely a shred left, but not perfect.
Kebabs onto the skewers (Bacon wrapped through pieces of ribeye, onion, and anaheim pepper:
I feel like crying because I didn't get a picture of the finished product. It was worthy for sure. The meal was just eaten in a frenzy, so all picture taking was out the window.
Finally, the main course, Mrs. Meshugana's Leek Soup:
Just leeks, garlic, yukon gold, carrot, celery, sauteed in butter, simmered in chicken stock for an hour, then blended. Added about a cup of heavy cream to finish. Yowser. That, my friends, is a soup worth eating. So incredibly simple, healthy and tasty to your toes.
Back in the morning with more adventures!
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Does the book have braiding instructions? I use my own recipe but struggle with anything over a 3-strand braid. Beautiful challah - can't wait to see them baked.
Yes there's very good illustrate braiding instructions. More pics in a few hours! We also added ribeye kabobs to the menu...
From iPhone using Tapatalk
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There are times when nothing is as satisfying as a wall of toast soldiers, surrounding a soft-boiled or poached egg, ready to dip into a runny yolk. At those times I feel that toast has achieved its zenith.
Bravo! That sounds like a line out of a food romance novel!
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I love challah. Haven't ginned up the courage to try it, plus there's a great bakery in town that does it, which means I have it when I want it for French toast. Best French toast in the world, bar none: Challah, eggs, heavy cream. Fried in butter. Arteries be-damned.
Yes! The leftovers get made into eggs on toast and French toast (Mrs. Meshugana). Absolutely the best french toast ever.
You should give it a whirl, it's really quite easy. In fact, this is the only bread I've ever made. The only hard part is the braiding, but there's so many designs (like the pull apart loaf you see there) that are much easier. I also highly recommend this book, very easy to follow for a 'non-recipe' guy like myself.
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Challa just about to go into the oven...
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... memories of open-fire lard-cooked Navajo fry bread wrapped around cheese stuffed fresh roasted chiles in northern Arizona...
Where in Northern AZ? That's my 'native place' as they say in B'Lore.
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Getting ready for tonight's dinner.
My favorite (only?) baking book (if we say cookbook, can we say bakebook?):
"I'm-a-kneadin-my-dough, I'm-a-kneadin-my-dough""
I actually made challah the first time by hand, just to say I could (and because I didn't own a stand mixer!). Back in the days I had the time I made all my pasta by hand (no mixer) because it was very relaxing. Now I buy dried... I know, I'm ashamed.
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Tonight was supposed to be discada, but our friends cancelled and other things came up, so maybe Thursday for that. Tomorrow I'm planning on Challa bread and Leek soup for dinner. We'll see what else happens!
I am really curious to hear about and see some discada....it is a recently discovered fascination of mine. Our newly-found favorite Mexican Market, Bonito Michoacan in downtown Kansas City, Kansas is the first place I've seen it. Their version is basically the trimmings (discards/discada?) from marinated beef and pork, bacon, hot dogs and ham. It goes from scary looking back at the meat counter where you can buy it by the pound...to "if loving this is wrong I don't want to be right" when it's coming out hot in a street taco, gordita or torta at the front counter.
Curious to hear if this is in any way similar to what you'll be preparing...and if so, the different variations, etc.
This is the basic idea, although I believe the name comes from the 'disco' (dee-sko) that it's cooked on. Traditional lore says it came from cooking in a beaten plow, but this is what I'm using nowadays.
The meat is something like what you mentioned, although I forgo the 'wieners' and use: Chorizo, bacon & pork cutlets, plus random spices and chiles along the way. We usually serve it outside, coming hot off the disco into fresh tortillas. I'll document the whole thing in detail tomorrow!
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Today's a busy day (in my other, non-cooking life), but I'll be posting as I go along. Keep your eyes open for 6-braid challa and Leek soup.
Here's a peek back at one of the treats from last week in Lubbock. A little pizza place called West Crust Pizza.
Here's a look at the decor, very 'surfer-dude' friendly, and comfortable, actually for being so pretentiously hip:
Note the real, fresh pineapples in the baskets (barely visible in the top picture). From what I could tell everything was real and fresh.
Now, I can be a pizza purist at heart - have spent my time searching for that elegant, simple pie, and I know the beauties of a simple pizza (and there's one to show here, don't worry!). BUT. And that's a big but. There are times when it is OK, even praise-worthy to do something completely out of the ordinary and wild on a pizza crust. Sure, Grandma Fuzaro wouldn't approve of this pie, but oh! what a treat!
The special on the menu:
The special on my plate: (it didn't last long)
This was one of the finest 'complicated' pizzas I've eaten in memory. Everything was perfectly balanced and just exquisite.
Now, here is the aforementioned 'simple' or 'classic' margherita pizza on the table: (it's the bottom one)
In spite of being just a tad bit saucy (which softened the nice 'cracker' crust), this really was a fine piece of pizza as well. For all the culinary shenanigans that the curry pizza pulled, they still managed to do a spectacular job at a pizza my dad would be proud of (especially considering the place is in West Texas (no offense meant to our Texan brethren)).
Be back soon with more!
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robirdstx - just a tip - you'll usually find the El Pato in the tomato sauce section, not the hot sauce.
Good luck!
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Struck out on that island - it was a battered floor-model only.
On to better things!
Here's the final result of those smoked pork ribs, on a bun:
I tossed the meat with some 'magic dust' from Memphis Championship BBQ, and a little bit of Stubbs BBQ sauce. This was a sandwich of glory.
Tonight was supposed to be discada, but our friends cancelled and other things came up, so maybe Thursday for that. Tomorrow I'm planning on Challa bread and Leek soup for dinner. We'll see what else happens!
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robirdstx - looks wonderful! How did it taste?
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Headed out to buy a new prep island my wife saw on sale.
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Uh oh - I guess we'll be avoiding the guacamole salad.
MissAmy - You're right in that there are places here that serve green chile. You can also buy them here (fresh in the right season), but the 'culture' of the city is so much more like Texas than the rest of New Mexico. Red asado would be much more prevalent here than good green chile stew.
And yes...Hobbs now has a casino (with a buffet!), so it's changed a bit from what I hear.
BTW - La Fiesta is a decent little place, but (at least nowadays) it's a very 'gringo' menu. Very little spice and nothing to excite you (except, I guess, the guacamole salad? Depending on your definition of excitement!).
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In my effort to shore up for this week's food blogging, we did some power shopping in Lubbock last week.
I was super-excited that we were there at the beginning of Farmer's Market 'season', June 1st. From what I read online, the city was going to be awash in fresh produce at every corner in bright colors and at fabulous prices.
The first market we visited was an empty lot. That's it. No market, just the weeds. The second one had one tired old man with (and I counted): Two crates of apples.
Hmmm...
To make a long story short, we ended up at a (chain) grocery store called Sun Harvest Farmers Market:
They're a regular grocer, but they source most of their produce from 'local' or 'local-ish' farmers.
Man, I don't care if they came from china, but it was the greatest produce section I'd seen in a loooong while:
The prices were also amazing, compared to what we've been paying over here in 'The End of the Culinary Universe.'
They had lots of interesting, different stuff, like the bulk grains:
We scored some very tasty yogurt raisins and chocolate covered cashews plus a cooler full of veggies. We also took advantage of their 'mini-carts' to train #4 in the art of produce shopping:
The best thing about this store? Their the first store in the US to have 'Locally Grown Restrooms'
(Thanks to my sharp-eyed 7-year old for catching that one)
We were so impressed with the store that we're going to schedule monthly visits there to stock up. How far do you guys drive for vegetables?
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pastameshugana Oh man, those yolks look like the perfect consistency, spreading like a thick rich sauce, please tell me your secret, I can never get my fried eggs that perfect.
Ha! Actually I'm a bad egg-cooker. I need to learn how to poach/etc. All I do is put them in a non-stick pan with olive oil or butter, then splash a little water on the exposed part of the pan and cover it. The water steams them from the top while the bottom cooks so I don't have to flip them. I would imagine there has to be a better way...
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I've been documenting this over on my food blog here, but here's a couple of breakfasts that I've truly enjoyed:
Eggs on Toast with portobello, garlic, onion, tomato and Gruyère:
Huevos Rancheros with anaheim, hatch and serrano:
I think eggs on toast and huevos rancheros are both variations of the same illness.
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Top of the morning.
Here's today's breakfast, inspired by kayb!
The last time I made huevos rancheros was in India, and only my second son (then almost 6) would eat them with me. He's a chili head to the core. It was almost a test of manhood for him, and he refused to have anything to drink till he was done!
Now, my 'Indian' rancheros were deadly, featuring Guntur chillies and what the markets called 'green chili' - which were a lot like serranos.
Todays was a little less intense.
Ingredients on the cutting board (I love my sani-tuff):
Hard stuff being sauteed:
Tortillas ready for the eggs:
Today it was me and my chili-headed second son and Mrs. Meshugana. The others aren't interested and would rather have corn flakes...
Posing for the paparazzi:
Ta-Da!
For this dish, after softening the onion, garlic and chillies (Serrano and Anaheim), I added 1/2 can of Hatch diced, plus one full can of El Pato hot tomato sauce. (This stuff is the bomb. Go right now and buy some. Heaven in a 59 cent can!) Tossed in the tomatoes and let it all stew while frying the eggs.
As I mentioned earlier, I've got a small appetite, so no sides. Don't want to waste precious stomach real estate with silly sides!
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Well, headed off to bed, so I thought I'd share a meal that we had on the road last week.
On our way to Lubbock, TX (the 'city' in these parts), we stopped in Seminole, TX to eat. I was really craving the 'Super Pollo', which has a 12 foot chicken smoker out front, but alas, they were closed for the holiday (didn't anyone tell them holidays are for people, not restaurants?!).
Anyhoo....
We ended up at a little place called Daily Burgers:
...which as you can see by the window signs, has quite a variety of dishes.
I ordered corn dogs for the little people, which I was informed were 'hand made', which I deciphered as 'hand battered', and it's the first time in my life I've been impressed by a corn dog:
Is that thing beautiful, or what? The batter was so rich and buttery, and it was a quality dog inside to boot. As they would say in Bangalore: Pukka! (Which I am informed means 'of high quality or reputation' - If, in fact, I've been translation-bombed and it actually means your father smelt of elderberry, then my sincerest apologies (and there go the parentheses again)).
Then a green chili burger with everything for Mrs. Meshugana:
Which was wonderful except for the meat being too small for the bun.
And when I asked the employee what they were famous for, she recommended the home made Pirogies, stuffed with home made cottage cheese and grilled:
I was very surprised by these, and enjoyed them enough that I would make the 30 minute drive for them alone (and cheap gas in Texas). They were served with a little piece of ham and some sort of gravy that tasted a bit like a thin, milky cheese sauce. Who knows what it was, but it was very tasty.
Sweet Dreams! (if you're in the Western Hemisphere), Good Morning! (to the Eastern) - be back in a few hours!
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Heidi, I did get my fill while chopping! I told my wife that if you could bottle the flavor of crispy pork fat fresh off the grill, you'd make a million dollars.
I believe they call them pecan farms around here. We've got two pecan trees but it's not the right season or else I'd do something with them!
Stopping for a quick bite at a 'country' buffet called ranchers after band practice, then home to plan huevos rancheros (you inspired me!).
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eG Foodblog: pastameshugana (2011) - Looking for an Oasis in a Culinar
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
Yes - that's exactly it! I promise to get pics, even if they're iPhone pics.