Talos con Chocolat

Otherwise known as Corn Tortillas with Melted Chocolate. This is one item I haven't seen offered at any Latin-American restaurants or ethnic supermarkets in California, or the continental US for that matter. This recipe is adapted from an article on Basque country foods Saveur Magazine, issue #102. What I was able to make in my kitchen came comparably close to Saveur's photo of the dish.

Here are my ingredient ratio tweaks:

1 cup masa harina
1/2 tsp sugar
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1.5 oz semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped

The original recipe features salt in the corn flour dough, but I added sugar because this is a dessert. Per masa harina cup, the amount of water that I use is more because I live in an arid part of southern California where even the ice cubes in my freezer tend to evaporate.

Directions:

1. Stir together masa harina, sugar and water; but gradually add the water, stirring with each 1/8 cup. It is possible that all the water might not be used so don't add it all at once. When the dough comes together, you should be able to work it by hand. It will have the texture of playdoh.

2. Roll the dough into a large ball and cut into quarters. For each quarter of dough, roll it into a ball and flatten it with the palm of your hand on a sheet of wax paper (if you use wax paper, you won't need an offset spatula to remove it; just peel off the wax paper and you're set). Press out the dough until it is roughly 5 or 6 inches in diameter. Repeat with another quarter dough piece.

3. Roughly chop semisweet chocolate and set aside.

The next step for the tortillas and chocolate have two possible methods, 4a and 4b. I used 4a, but 4b seems more practical and less messy to deal with.

4a. Heat skillet (for tortillas, I use a round 8-inch cast iron pan), then add the oil and let the oil heat up. Turn stove to "low" because you want to slowcook the tortilla so that it cooks entirely through from one side. Add one tortilla, put the chocolate on top of that, and the second tortilla on top of the chocolate. You can gently lift one edge of the bottom tortilla to check its brownedness, about 3-5 mins. Flip the tortilla sandwich and cook the other side of the tortilla. When that has browned, remove from heat and serve.

4b. Add oil to skillet over medium heat. Lay a tortilla in the skillet and cook, flipping once until lightly browned. About 3-4 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the tortilla. Transfer tortilla to a plate and put some chopped chocolate along half of the tortilla. Fold in half and let the heat from the tortilla melt the chocolate. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and chocolate. Serve hot.

Photos:

Grilled Ginger-Lime Chicken

I wonder why people call this dish grilled when it isn't grilled at all but fried in a skillet. I suppose that, in some context, it is like having a grilled cheese sandwich. The ingredients are pretty basic to an Asian kitchen, and by omitting the chicken, you can swap in shrimp, firm tofu, or another meat. Although, I don't think this is a good flavor combination for turkey.

Ingredients:

5 chicken drumsticks*
2 pieces of ginger, peeled and minced
3 (or more) garlic cloves, diced
juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp unsalted butter (optional)
sea salt and black pepper, to taste
EVOO for frying

Directions:

1. Combine lime juice, salt and pepper together in a bowl
2. Add olive oil to skillet and lightly brown ginger and garlic
3. Remove ginger and garlic from the oil and set aside
4. Add chicken to skillet and fry on medium-high heat until lightly browned on all sides.
5. Add a scant 1/4 cup boiling water to chicken. Cook covered until clear juices come out when the meat is pierced with a fork or knife.
6. Add ginger, garlic, and lime juice to chicken and stir until flavors mingle. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with steamed brown rice or noodles.

*The Trader Joe's packages of natural chicken drumsticks only come five to a pack.

Trial & Error: corn tortillas from "scratch"

The other day at Vallarta's I picked up a small 2 lb bag of Maseca 'instant' corn flour because I wanted to try making corn tortillas from scratch. Maseca is a brand name and their corn is treated with lime before the grinding process. The lime that is added to the corn isn't from the lime fruit, but rather calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) which helps to loosen hulls from the kernels and soften the corn.

There are a few reviews of this brand of masa harina out on the Net and I'd have to say that I agree with most of them, leaning towards tortillas made with this flour tasting rather bland and flavorless. Well, here's the thing. Any corn product made with simple ingredients (corn, water, pinch of salt, etc) is bound to taste flavorless; like polenta. With the first few tries, the tortillas were bland. It is probably because I didn't add enough salt.

I don't have a tortilla press nor plastic wrap, so I used two sheets of waxed paper and a rolling pin to form my tortillas. I must be doing something wrong with the oil I'm using for frying because they're not even getting lightly browned. Ahh, I also only use EVOO for cooking/eating so.. maybe that's my problem instead of using a cooking oil like canola or grapeseed oil.

I probably have to play with the water / corn flour ratios a bit because Maseca recommended this ingredient list to make 4 tortillas. It made four very small tortillas.

1/2 cup Maseca corn flour
1/3 cup water
pinch of salt

This mix was a bit on the dry side and the dough just barely clung together. I think it needs more water. I have pictures, but I'll wait until I make a normal looking tortilla.. at least to the quality of "homemade" from a fast food restaurant.

Maybe for my next attempt with masa harina, I could try to make chicken sopes.

To be or not to be organic

The debate between eating organic and eating everything else can go on for an eternity; but by today's definition "organic" foods are apparently more organic than the non-organically grown foods available at the supermarket. What do I mean by this? The very definition of organic is a substance that is edible. Inorganic means something that is not edible. So for farms that don't use hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, waxes, dyes, or other chemical enhancements to produce the optimal crop, they've been branding their food as "Organic". They tend to use natural methods of reducing pestilence, like using ladybugs for aphid control or diluted white vinegar for weed control.

I cook mostly organic foods in my kitchen. The split is about 40/60, with the latter hinging on my food budget. For practical purposes, I don't buy organic meats. I simply cannot afford that lifestyle. I also don't eat cleanly enough to tell the difference between grain or grass-fed cattle, nor can I tell if a fish tastes like it's been farm raised or wild caught. I can tell the difference in fresh fruits and vegetables. Just eat cleanly for three months, then eat some carrots.. organic and not-organically grown. You can do this test with apples as well. There is a definite pesticide taste in the flesh of apples and carrots that is more pronounced than any other fruit or vegetable that is not organically grown. Where do these chemicals go? Why.. to your liver and kidneys, and it's not like humans actually ingest solvents to rid themselves of these toxins.

You should know that the darkness of an egg yolk depends heavily on what the chickens are fed. They're only healthier because the chickens are fed a healthier feed mix. Some farms brand this as having higher Omega 3 fatty oils. It's just more damn marketing. It's that competitive advantage some farms have over others, IMHO. But, I digress.

Here's what I use in my kitchen:

• organic whole milk or milk not treated with rBST
• antibiotic-free and hormone-free eggs
• unbleached white flour, or organic white/wheat flour
• nitrite/nitrate-free lunch meat, hotdogs, bacon, etc
• fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables
  
• sulphur-free, colorant-free dried fruits
• whole grain bread
• organic juice
  

I don't use corn syrup, ever, not even to make mochi.

I do use a Brita water filter because water in the LA water system is just chock full of nasty chemicals like chlorine and fluoride.

The closer to the earth the food source is, the more you have to eat Organic.

Risotto Milanese

Here's the nth time I've tried making risotto from the Joy of Cooking. I must say that I really dislike the way instructions are written for a lot of their recipes. I think I finally have the order of operations down for this rice dish. Saffron can easily be one of the most expensive spice to get, but it doesn't have to cost more than all other ingredients in the dish. I used Mexican saffron which still imparts the same warm yellowish coloring to the rice, and has a lightly fragrant scent. Currently, I'm cooking for one, so the list below reflects that. The JoC recipe uses a pound of arborio rice which I don't see myself consuming all at once or even for leftovers. Also, my version doesn't add grated Parmesan cheese. I like Parmesan cheese, but oddly, only on spaghetti sauce. Total cook/prep time is 30 minutes. Risotto can be heated up as leftovers, but it isn't as tasty as other types of rice. The ingredients & directions: 1. In a small saucepan, bring to boil 1 cup of chicken broth and a generous pinch of saffron threads. Remove from heat and set aside. 2. In a large saucepan, heat 2 tbsp EVOO and add your optional ingredients. Today I used diced carrots instead of mushrooms, but you can also use fennel, rosemary, garlic, etc. Let the carrots sweat in the oil until partly cooked but not tender. 2a. Remove carrots to a bowl and reserve. You don't want them cooking the entire time since they will get mushy. 2b. In a separate pot, heat 4 cups of chicken stock and set aside. 2c. Add 2 tbsp butter to the saucepan, 1 clove minced garlic, and heat until the oil is fragrant. Add 1 cup of arborio rice and stir until combined. Raise heat to medium. Add chicken stock, one cup at a time until it has been absorbed by the rice. Add the carrots, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. 2d. Add the saffron-chicken stock to the rice and stir until the excess liquid has been absorbed. Turn off heat and serve. Ingredient summary: 1 c. chicken stock 1 generous pinch of saffron threads 2 tbsp EVOO 1 medium organic carrot, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 c. arborio rice 2 tbsp unsalted butter 4 c. chicken stock, hot salt & pepper to taste A pepper note: I don't have ground white pepper in my kitchen pantry. It's used in so few recipes that I know of that I only have black pepper available. If you don't want to see little black specks in your risotto, by all means, use ground white pepper.