Taco Time with Matt and PK

Al pastor features prominently on their trailer. That's NOT Matt or PK in that picture though

Exactly one week ago, I found myself flying to the Bay Area in order to enjoy the annual Chinese New Year potluck feast (more on that in a future post) with family and friends at Cheryl and Cam’s house .   Now,  let me ask you this. What is the best way to whet one’s appetite for the mountain of food that accompanies any Chinese New Year celebration?  Why, tacos, of course!  Fortunately it’s become somewhat of a tradition that whenever I fly into Oakland, if Matt or PK is picking me up, the first thing we do is head over to International Boulevard, home to numerous taco trucks, where we gorge ourselves on tacos.  In this case, we headed to Tacos El Gordo #2 (don’t know where #1 is, but I’m glad to know there are two).    According to Matt (and the picture on the side of their trailer)  it’s known for it’s al pastor (marinated, slow spit-roasted pork) which because of it’s spicy seasoning and roasted crunchy bits has always been one of my favorite meats of tacos, burritos or tortas.  But equally delicious at Tacos El Gordo are the suadero, cabeza and (Mexican) chorizo.  But don’t just believe these written words.  Watch the following video because seeing is believing.

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Lahmacun and Sarmale

This past weekend found us taking a culinary trip from Turkey to Romania all from the comfort of our own kitchen.

Saturday Night = Turkey Night

As is often the case, Shefali suggested and I executed.  In this case, she suggested that  I make lahmacun, a flat bread “pizza” with a topping of ground meat  and spices for a potluck party we were attending on Saturday night,.  Now depending on whom you talk to, lahmacun (pronounced: lah-ma-joon) is either of Turkish or Armenian origins.  I don’t  want to get into the particular complications of the conflicted relationship between Turkey and it’s Armenian citizens, but one thing they do share in common is this delicious savory snack/meal (I say “meal” because because once you try it, you might not be able to refrain from eating just a snack like portion).  You can also find lahmacun in Lebanese and Syrian restaurants and bakeries.  I consulted a couple recipes for inspiration: a Saveur Magazine recipe and a recipe from a Turkish cook book by Özcan Ozan, the chef owner of The Sultan’s Kitchen, a Turkish restaurant in Boston.  Then I just kind of did my own thing.  Again proving the versatility of the sourdough starter, I used the sourdough for which I was originally intending to make baguettes and then re-purposed for the flat bread.  It added a nice extra tang and chewiness. Here’s what the lahmacun looked like:

uncooked lahamcun - basically spicy meat paste spread over dough

after baking for about 10 minutes at 475 degrees F. Smelled just like Turkey! In other words, it smelled deliciously of spiced savory lamb

Lamahcun waiting station. Packing them up for the poluck.

Sunday Night = Romania Night

A fun game that we often play in our house is naked twister. But when we get bored of that we play another game called “what the hell should we do with all this cabbage in our fridge?” And fortunately our CSA gives us ample opportunity to play this game.  Case in point, our last pick up we got three different types of cabbage: a red cabbage with which I made my patented cole slaw, a napa cabbage for which I already assigned supporting role duty in Shanghai chow mein.  That left me with one more head of cabbage, an arrowhead cabbage (?) that I had to figure out how to cook.  Solution: sarmale, or Romanian style stuffed cabbage.  I’m dating myself here, but I first sampled sarmale in Romania when I was shooting a “documentary” about the origins of Dracula and vampires,  which served as bonus material  on the DVD release of one of the finest movies ever made: Underworld – yeah that vampires v. werewolves movie staring Kate Beckinsale. Well, at least it got me to Romania where I remember the food being really, hearty, rustic (raw bacon? yes please) and delicious.   Case in point: the stuffed cabbage dish called sarmale.  Stuffing cabbage with meat and other ingredients is not unique to Romania.   According to Wikipedia, sarma as it is also called has it’s origins in the Ottoman Empire which makes complete sense if you consider all the the countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia that have stuffed cabbage.  They were all under the influence directly or indirectly (or just by proximity) to the Ottoman Empire.  Isn’t history cool?  Anyway, I consulted a number of recipes on the web and basically incorporated a bunch of them to suit my needs and capabilities.  Some recipes called for using sauerkraut which I didn’t have, so I blanched the cabbage leaves in water and vinegar before using them to wrap the meat mixture ( a combination of ground pork, lamb and beef mixed with rice, spices, onions, garlic and celery).  The end result? Delicios! (uh, that’s Romanian for “delicious”)

Sarmale - cabbage is stuffed and ready to be cooked

Sarmale in the pot and simmered slowly in broth and a bit of tomato paste

The sarmale after cooking in the oven for about an hour at about 350?.

We cooked for our friends Ben and Maria visiting from out of town. Ben, who's Jewish said the sarmale reminde him of food his mom cooks. Mission accomplished. I always knew I'd make a great Jewish mother.

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Tim and Zainab’s pork chops and peanut stew

Pork chops + soy sauce, sugar and a few other ingredients = delicious. Right? Well for this Asian brother that’s a no brainer. But what if the equation was tilapia + peanut butter and a bunch of other stuff? Would the sum of those parts still be delicious? Well, click on the photos below for the answer as well as videos and recipes for both dishes. Here’s a hint: Um…. yes.

Nature's Candy

peanut stew? yes.

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Pigging Out With Family and Friends

Alright, as promised, here’s the post about what we did after we watched the pig breakdown at Kokkari.  Though this post is a week later than the previous one, in reality the events about which you will soon read and see an amazing video occurred a  few days after our tutorial when the lesson and the excitement was still fresh.  You see, we got our very own little pig to play with!  And by “play with”  I mean, butcher and cook delicious pig dishes out of.  Hmm, that sounds a little messed up doesn’t it? Well anyway, it was fun and judging by the grunts and the way our friends’ eyes rolled back in ecstasy as they feasted on the meal we prepared, it was indeed delicious.  Click on the photo below for the full story.

Porchetta!

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Pig Breakdown!

Alright, so a couple weeks ago I was back in the Bay Area for yet another food inspired visit.  And as usual, I ate myself silly.  But as it turns out, I didn’t just get food for my belly.  I also got some food for my brain.   More specifically, me, Matt and Minh got schooled on how to break down a whole pig from the chefs at Kokkari, an awesome Greek restaurant in SF.  It was a real treat to watch professionals in action and see where the different cuts we all see in grocery stores come from on the actual animal. And it was a lesson we would put to good use a few days later.  But that’s for another post.  For now, click on the picture below for the full story and video.

This little piggy went to the kitchen...

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