No More Coupons from Central Market

Do you believe it?!  They’re going to stop mailing us coupons.  Instead, you’ll get the sale flyer.  I do agree that they’ve been running some much more serious specials and freebies with a purchase.  These could potentially save you much more than the coupons.  But, I don’t know.  I just kind of liked getting them.  Oh well.  I’m sure I’ll adjust!

Brisket in Many Ways

One of the things I like best is catching brisket on sale.  Not one of those super tidy trimmed pieces, but the big old whole ones with the thick layers of fat.  (Look away, Eddie!)  $10 for 10 pounds of meat.  OK, maybe only 7 pounds of meat once  you chop off a lot of the fat.  Having some kind of layer of fat is important.  I’ll admit I’ve never cooked a super lean piece of brisket.  But, it looks like some potentially tooth cracking stuff.  Brisket is a very tough cut of meat to begin with.  Melting fat and slow cooking are sure fire ways of turning it into a fork tender masterpiece. 

The recipe I use includes an overnight spice rub, a quick grill to sear and then several hours of braising in a highly spiced broth with 8 carrots and a pound of bacon chopped up in it.  It’s such a long recipe, I hesitate to even get into it.  What I’d really like to talk about is what you do with all that meat if you don’t have a large party to feed.  

Of course, the first meal is the sliced meat with potato salad and beans.  I’m sure every brisket eater has their own traditional brisket meal.  And then you have the leftovers.  I have some for lunch and then I’m kind of tired of it.  Hubbard makes chopped brisket sandwiches for us with BBQ sauce.  That’s kind of different because we don’t eat BBQ sauce with our brisket usually.  I’m happy to eat brisket again.  Skip a day.  Then brisket enchiladas.  Now this is really good.  The secret is the sauce.

First, chop up some brisket.  Dice some onion and throw it in a pan with some oil.  Saute the onion and then throw in the  brisket until heated through.

Then make your sauce.  This is adapted from a recipe by Matt Martinez, Jr.  He calls it Poor-Boy Enchilada Sauce.  Here’s how it goes…

1/8 cup chicken fat, 1/8 cup bacon grease (he says lard, vegetable oil or shortening)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tablespoon Gebhardt’s chili powder
1 tablespoon chipotle chili powder
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 cup beef broth

Make a light brown roux from the fat and flour.  Stir in the dry ingredients and cook until fragrant.  Then start adding the broths.  You might want to use a whisk at this point.  Simmer the sauce until it thickens to your preference.  Warning:  The chipotle powder makes a bit spicy-hot.  You can use all mild chili powder to avoid this.  Maybe some ancho just to keep it interesting.

Our enchiladas were assembled with corn tortillas, run through a short bath in a skillet full of hot oil to soften.  Then dragged through a pie plate of the enchilada sauce and stacked until all of the tortillas were ready.  Place a couple of tablespoons (approx) of Monterrey Jack cheese on the tortilla, about the same amount of beef and onions and top with medium cheddar.  (This is just our mix of the day.  You can substitute any cheese or meat combo that you might like.)  Roll ‘em up tightly and put them in a greased baking dish.  Top with the enchiladas with a generous tablespoon of sauce each, as opposed to just pouring in all the sauce.  You don’t want a big mushy mess.  But, you do want the enchiladas to stay moist.  Top it with some cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. 

Serve the enchiladas with the extra sauce at the table and more chopped onion.  Hubbard ate four of them.

Of course, Mexican food lends itself beautifully to brisket adaptations.  Quesadillas, brisket nachos or tacos.  You can even make a King Ranch casserole with brisket.  And in the end, slice and stuff the leftovers in a freezer bag for later.  Big time value for $10, huh!?

Recreating Fuel City’s Cup of Corn

We loved the cup of corn at Fuel City.  It’s basically a form of elotes, though it’s not on the cob.  It was delicious, but I knew we could make it better.  Off I went to Central Market.  I grabbed four ears of corn, some Tapatio’ Salsa Picante (Mexican hot sauce, just because I thought it would be more authentic and it only cost 89 cents!) and some cojita cheese.  When I first picked up the chunk of cheese, it was huge for what I had in mind.  And I wasn’t so excited about paying $5.00 for cheese when the corn only cost a couple of dollars.  Luckily, I was at Central Market.  They cut the big hunk in half and weighed and wrapped it.  I walked away with a $2.50 chunk of cheese that I might actually use before it goes bad.

Here’s how it went.  First grill the corn.  The corn at Fuel City was obviously canned corn.  The lady putting it together would reach in with a slotted spoon, let the water drain away and then throw it in the cup.  It’s all perfect looking, but it doesn’t have a whole lot of taste left after so much time in the water.

There a tons of ways to grill corn.  Some people do it in the husk.  Some wrapped in foil.  Basically, all I was looking for was a smoky flavor and corn that was not dried out.  So, we just did a quick heat through over the coals.  Then I brought it in, cut it off the cobb and threw it in a covered saute’ pan. 

Add a big blob of butter.  I’m talking big.  Instead of draining away water from this corn when I dished it up, I wanted to drain away butter.  A little salt, a little pepper go in.  I cooked the corn in the butter until it was done all the way through and still plump.  I didn’t buy crema (Mexican pourable sour cream).  So, I poured a little milk into sour cream to lighten it up.  I grated some of the cojita.  This cheese is not as hard as Parmesan, but will grate into crumbles on the small holes of a cheese grater.  It’s a little salty, but basically milld.  I like it a lot and will probably grate some over the enchiladas I am making today.

 We served our corn in ramekins instead of styrofoam cups.  A layer of corn, some cheese, more corn, a little sour cream and a few shakes of hot sauce, more corn and top it with cheese.  You could really layer it any way you want depending on your prefence of toppings.  We loved it!  A little smoky, a little spicy, totally full of buttery, creamy goodness.

I probably need to go get more corn.

Michelada Recipe in Saveur

QUESTION:
I’m debating…  Will this recipe for a Michelada in the Texas issue of Saveur be good?  I mean, the idea of beer and ice in the same glass seems somewhat repulsive to me.  And will five dashes of Tabasco in one drink make a person cry?  Should I use Louisiana Hot Sauce instead?  I mean, it’s not as hot and it taste better.  Or maybe just less Tabasco…  It sounds like a great hangover cure.  Not that I have a hangover or anything.  (No, really.  I don’t.)  What if it’s not good and I end up wasting a beer?  The only proper way to waste a beer is to open it, take one swallow, sit it down and go to bed.  I’m debating…

RECIPE:
Kosher salt, to taste
1 oz. fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp. worcestershire
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
5 dashes of Tabasco
1 12 oz. bottle or can of Mexican beer, such as Tecate

Rub a lime wedge around the rim of a pint glass; dip rim in salt.  Add lime juice, worcestershire, pepper and Tabasco; fill glass with ice and beer.

RESULT:
Mine don’t look quite as reddish as the picture in Saveur.  Maybe it’s because I used five drops of Tabasco instead of dashes.  In fact, I can’t hardly even taste the Tabasco.  I think I’ll go with true dashes next time and maybe use the Louisiana stuff instead. 

I took one to Hubbard.  We tasted them.
Hub, after first sip:  “Weird”
Second sip:  “Beer on ice is weird”
Third:  “It tastes fine though”
“Refreshing” I say.
Him:  “Pretty good”

There you have it.  Nothing to die for, but good.  If you don’t like beer you might like this.  The ice makes the beer lose it’s fizz pretty quickly.  So, it’s less like beer.  It’s very light compared to what I thought it would be.  A good summer drink.  Another good thing is that you probably have the ingredients on hand just about all the time.  Fun for something different and not too boozy.  And yes, I think it would do just fine for a hangover cure.  I like it.

Bacon Menu at Central Market

Last weekend I was looking for the applewood-smoked bacon at Central Market and was pleasantly surprised to find the once lonely bacon surrounded by interesting sounding bacons of all shapes and sizes.  This immediately threw me into a tailspin.  Lordy, I was intending to throw my apple bacon into a brisket braising liquid.  What a waste.  I need to buy Oscar Meyer for that.  I should eat the apple stuff straight, like we always do.  Only this time, I need to buy some kind of interesting bacon, too.  And it’s a $1.00 off per pound.  And I can get a free t-shirt! 

I decided on my traditional and much loved apple smoked.  My second choice was one called Ten Garlic Clove bacon.  Whoa.  There are actually garlic cloves imbedded in the bacon slices.  I gotta have that.  There were tons of others.  But, I didn’t have the time to stand there and examine the name and shape of each one.  What I needed was a little menu I could take with me or study before I got the man engaged in waiting on me.  So, where’s that?  I couldn’t tell you the name of one other bacon type, though there were about 12 or more.  I think a sampling party might be in order.  Different bacon appetizers?  Wouldn’t that be a tasty little heart attack of an evening?

I took my dollar off coupon.  But, you know, who needs another white t-shirt?  I’m 46 years old for crying out loud.  It did have a picture of a piece of bacon on the shirt.  I resisted.  I’ll leave the bacon t-shirt for the younger, more t-shirt oriented crowd. 

That bacon was damn good, though.

Measuring By Hand

So, I have been reading “The Splendid Table’s, How to Eat Supper” by Lynne Rosetto Kasper and  Sally Swift. This book is as much about information as it recipes.  Of course, if you plow through every written word you get to read about umami about 27 times.  That’s OK.  Most people only read the info around the recipes their interested in doing.  I rarely read a cookbook cover to cover.  But, I love The Splendid Table podcast.  This is a “read every word” book for me.

Anyway, today I read about teaching yourself to measure by site/hand.  I’m always impressed when people can do this.  (Justin Wilson and all that.)  It says that if you’ll just measure with a spoon and then pour it into your hand to see what it looks like, after a few recipes, you’ll be able to measure herbs, seasonings, etc. into your hand and skip the spoon.  I tried it today and a teaspoon of basil looks much bigger in my hand than I thought it would.  So does salt. 

I’m going to keep trying it and see if what she says is true. 

I’ll let you know…

Cheap Date with Hub – Part 2 – Jack’s Backyard Bar

Another place I’d been resisting was Jack’s Backyard.  I guess I had it in my mind that the place was going to be creepy or something.  Hubbard had recently talked me into going to a bar in Oak Cliff called the Tradewinds.  Big time dive.  So, I thought Jack’s would be the same way.  Wrong.  Very wrong.  Jack’ s is nothing but pleasant on a Saturday afternoon and I was ready for a beer after my Fuel City tacos.

We sat at the bar and had our $3 domestic beers and well drinks.  That’s the drink special on Saturday afternoon.

Isn’t the dining area stylish?  They have a pretty decent looking menu.  Of course, we were too stuffed with tacos to think of eating.  Jack’s offers Sunday brunch too. 

I didn’t take a picture of it, but there’s a nice indoor seating area that looks bascially like two big living rooms.  The ceilings are high and the bartenders were very friendly.

The outdoor seating area is huge…  I’m sure when the weather warms up it’ll get a little uncomfortable.  But, it does help that there are trees around to block some of the direct sun.  I was particulary impressed with the large cactus garden that they planted in neat rows in front of another building that Hubbard said serves as a dining room.  I didn’t look inside though. 

Too bad we weren’t hungry because I’d love to report on the food here.  Another time, though…  another time.  Finding a nice spot to drink and relax is good enough for today!

Cheap Date with Hub Part 1 – Fuel City Tacos

You know how it is when you don’t want to spend a bunch of money, but you just can’t stand staying around the house?  Hubbard is a great guy to have around on days like that.  I’ve been resisting going to Fuel City for tacos because, well, I just don’t like the idea of going to eat at a gas station.  Hub assured me we would not be eating at the actual truck stop.  So, I decided to let him introduce me to what he thinks are sublime tacos.

He ordered the Barbacoa, Beef Fajita, Pastor and Picadillo, two of each.  Then we drove to a spot just into Oak Cliff that has been set up to view the progress of the building of the new Calatrava bridge.  I couldn’t actually see any progress.  That’s an old bridge in the picture.  But, it did give us a place to sit down and eat our tacos.

We had two trays of tacos.  Honestly, I’m not sure that I could tell one from the other.  The flavor was very rich in all four varieties.  Maybe I tasted a little cinnamon in the Barbacoa – if that was the Barbacoa that I was eating.  Anyway, they were all good.  You can choose corn or flour tortillas.  We had the corn for all of them.  The tortillas were nice and tender, while being substantial enough to hold up to the grease that comes with these suckers.  Some were greasiers than others, if I could have only been able to to tell which was which.  Again, all good.  All similiar.  Maybe we should have gotten something with chicken just to mix it up a little.  I think I liked the Barbacoa the best.  I think.

We did get the corn.  The cup of corn is liken to elotes, not on the cob, but layered with crema, butter, hot sauce, cheese, etc.  This stuff was good and now I’m dying to recreate it at home (with real butter, not the squirt kind).  In fact, I bought a few ears of corn today.

Will I be going back to Fuel City?  I’m sure I will.  Maybe not once or twice a week, like Hubbard does.  But, when the urge for tacos hits me this might be the place to go.  Especially if I want to save a dime.   The eight tacos and the cup of corn only cost us about $13.  What a deal.  I was stuffed when we finished.

Next up… Jack’s Backyard.

Hattie’s Shrimp and Grits

This weekend I made a recipe that my friend S found on the web.  Hattie’s Shrimp and Grits recipe was published by D Magazine.  If you haven’t been to Hattie’s, over in the Bishop Arts District of Oak Cliff, you need to go.  The food is excellent and it’s an overall exceptional experience.  Hubbard had never tried shrimp and grits and I had never made it.  So, I decided to give it a go with the recipe. 

There are a few things to remember when you’re cooking a chef’s recipe at home.  Number one, said chef probably hasn’t written a cookbook for home use.  Writing recipes is a very big deal.  The best recipe’s are completely accurate and leave nothing to guess work.  Number two, does the chef really want you to be able to recreate the dish exactly at home instead of coming into his restaurant to eat it?  Number three, he or she cooks in a restaurant kitchen which is vastly different from a home kitchen.  All this boils down to the fact that if you follow a recipe exactly as it is printed in the newspaper or magazine, you’ll often end up with something very different from what you had at the restaurant.

Hubbard loved this when it was done.  He said, “It’s a lot better than I thought it would be.”  He ate every bite.  Sorry, I forgot to take a picture.  But, I changed a few things from the original recipe.  Grits.  A recipe for grits with no salt added.  Sorry.  I just don’t believe in that.  I know the chicken broth will have a little salt in it.  But, I couldn’t help myself from adding a pinch or two.  And pepper.  I added pepper.  And twice as much butter when I was sauteing the shallots.  I also cut the recipe in half and we still had about a cup leftover.  Grits are filling and we weren’t serving five.  I also added about 1/2 a cup of freshly grated Parmesan and about the same of extra sharp Cheddar.  I cut the thyme down to just a pinch and I added a pinch of oregano, too.  It never tells when to add the herb.  So, I just sauted it with the shallots.  The grits were fabulous.  I’m taking the leftovers to work for breakfast tomorrow.  Crumble up a little bacon in them… fabu.

I did not cut the shrimp recipe in half.  Hub and I can put away a pound of shrimp between the two of us, easy.  My problem with the shrimp recipe is that it called for cooking the bacon and green onions together “until done”.  Well, I kind of like my bacon to have turned brown before I pour a lot of liquid on it.  The moisture from the green onions kept it from doing that.  The bacon was diced, but I could still see a lot of white fat and that kind of disturbed me.  Eventually, there was no choice but to throw in the shrimp or the onions were going to burn.  The shrimp cooked about five minutes then I shook on a few dashes of Louisiana Hot Sauce because I think it tastes better than Tabasco.  In went the liquids.  Sure seemed like a lot of liquid to me.  So, I pushed all the shrimp to the side and turned up the heat to reduce the sauce.  The flavor of the entire dish was outstanding.  Once it was done, I didn’t really notice the funky bacon any more.  Though, I think I’ll brown it a bit next time before I add the onions.

So, with a few adjustments, this turned out as good as it is at Hattie’s.  Still doesn’t replace the experience of being in the restaurant, though.  It’s a sweet little place.  Go.

Julie & Julia – 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen

It’s 10:00 a.m. and I just finished the book, written by Julie Powell.  I enjoyed it tremendously.  In a way, she reminds me of myself… all foul mouthed and bad tempered.  (I try to keep it clean for the blog.)  When I closed the book, I went straight to the shelf and pulled down my copy of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” by Julia Child.  I have owned the book for years and never really looked through it.  When I opened it this morning I remembered why.  The damn thing is dense.  I can’t say I would pick that book if I was going to cook my way through one.  I’m more inclined to cook my way through Paul Prudhomme’s “Seasoned America”.  Though, I’m afraid I might get too round to get through the door if I did.  Maybe I should try something like Jacques Pepin’s “More Fast Food My Way”. 

I really admire Julie for completing the project and her book is fabulously entertaining.  I’m hoping the film will be just as fun.  After finishing the book this morning, I did what I thought Julie would do.  I poured myself a glass of wine to celebrate my accomplishment.  This happens to be the only book I’ve actually finished this year.  I’m thinking brunch might be in order… 

Is this something you would ever consider doing?  Not drinking a glass of wine at 10:00 in the morning, but cooking through an entire cookbook?  What book would you choose?