Food Revolution: Chicken Chow Mein to Basil Fennel Chicken Pasta

I remixed another recipe from Jamie's Food Revolution last night and tonight, and I think I won again. To be fair, the thing I made using Jamie's Chicken Chow Mein recipe hardly looked like the thing in the book. His looks soupier (I assume the "if necessary" step seemed necessary to him), and I don't think that would have been a good thing. Then again, maybe I had a lot of yumminess stuck to my pan that he released. If I make it again, I'll probably try the wet version, and I'll use sliced water chestnuts instead of whole. Otherwise, this was pretty darned tasty. It was good, but I don't think it was as good as the alternate version I made last night. Note: If you make it, make sure you get actual chow mein noodles, not the dry things La Choy or whoever calls chow mein; those aren't the same thing (as is probably obvious from the photo).

For my remix, I substituted the following:

• Bay leaves for cilantro
• Fennel for bok choy (roughly as much fennel as a baby bok choy)
• Thin spaghetti for chow mein noodles
• Olive oil for peanut oil
• 6-oz can black olives for 8-oz can water chestnuts
• A large handful of largish cherry tomatoes (larger than cherry tomatoes, smaller than normal tomatoes, I can't think of what they called them) for the hell of it; I think I meant for them to replace the bok choy, but then I saw the fennel and the gears turned

Prepare everything using Jamie's recipe, but with the substitutions above (adding the quartered tomatoes to the veggie stir fry mix, but reserving a couple quarters for the pretty). Also, rather than simply cutting it in half like the bok choy, chop the fennel up. You want it to have lots of surface area in the water, so it can get tamed a bit.

This very much may be one of those things that other people can't stand, but I thought this was super, super tasty. I think it's the tastiest thing I've ever cooked. It was the first time I'd used fennel, and I was really worried once I tasted it raw (raw fennel tastes like black licorice). Boiling it for a few minutes calmed the flavor down considerably, though. I was also considering leaving out the ginger in my version, since ginger isn't used much in Italian cooking, while the rest of the ingredients felt fairly Italian. Luckily I saw an article online discussing a new trend of "Indian-Italian fusion," and I thought that sounded like such a wonderful idea I had to leave the ginger in. I doubted myself again when I decided to go with the fennel (licorice and ginger? won't that be too much?), but I'm so glad I left it in.

This might be it for a while. I need to use up some leftovers this week, and then I'm out of town for two weeks. I'll have my copy of the book with me, though, so maybe I'll do a remix while I'm up in Michigan.

If you have any ideas for what I should call this thing (because I'll certainly be making it again), let me know in the comments.

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Posted in: basil,black olives,bok choy,chicken,cilantro,food,food revolution,ginger,tomatoes,water chestnuts

Food Revolution: Salmon Fish Cakes Accidentally Remixed

Last weekend I had my first accidental remix. According to the recipe I was reading, I was making Salmon Fish Cakes from Jamie's Food Revolution, but that's not how they ended up.

The main thing I'm using Jamie's book for is to learn new techniques. The whole point of it is to get people to cook, so surely he'll be really teaching people, right? I'm starting to think, well, not so much. His goal is noble, but I've had a couple experiences now where he seemed to assume I knew a little more than I knew. This time the results were nearly disastrous.

Specifically, I was steaming the salmon for the fish cakes in a colander above the boiling potatoes. This seemed like a really cool idea to me, but I was doing this at a rental beach house, and I hadn't brought quite exactly the right equipment. That led to water boiling up into the colander with the salmon, making it a bit soggy. The result, after the rest of the process, was too soggy to form into fish cakes.

However, it wasn't a total loss. A little later than I should have, I decided to stop trying to cook the excess moisture out, and just made it a hash for sandwiches. I added a bit of the salad we were making for the side, squeezed on the lemon, and came up with something that was still pretty darned tasty. I think it would've been far better if I'd given up on the cakes earlier, but it was still pretty good.

Jamie has the recipe for the fish cakes on his site, but on his site it's in metric. Use 1.25 lbs potatoes (about 2 largish potatoes) and a pound of salmon. I also used far less parsley than he advises; I think Jamie must have very small hands, because a "handful" or "small bunch" is always way too much; if I'd used what he advised, my cakes would have been green and tasted purely like parsley.

Despite my annoyance at this recipe (and the very mediocre Sizzling Beef with Scallions and Black Bean Sauce, which I didn't bother remixing and didn't think was very good), I'm going to continue working through as many of Jamie's recipes as I can. Stay tuned for his Chicken Chow Mein (and my remix thereof), as soon as I've had a chance to cook them.

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Posted in: food,food revolution,parsley,potatoes,salmon

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Day 31

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

I started Eat the Menu when Tacodeli's central location opened on May 11. Since then, I've gone through 61 separate menu items (plus a hat), virtually all of which were delicious.

Friday morning I finished my quest to eat everything on the Tacodeli menu. The photo might not be great, but I wanted to get a shot of that tasty tasty tortilla they use on their breakfast tacos. Yum! This time the tortilla was filled with a Migas Taco, "Eggs scrambled with our migas mix and topped with Monterrey jack cheese." It wasn't quite as yummy as its cousin, the Migas Platter, but it was still quite tasty. I give it 0.85 moles.

So, that's everything! It was a delicious task, but somebody had to do it! Now all that are left are...

Summaries:
Breakfast:

• Tastiest Breakfast Taco: (tie) Sirloin, Egg, and Cheese / Migas Taco (0.85 moles)
• Tastiest (and only) Breakfast Non-Taco: Migas Platter (0.9 moles)
• Overall Breakfast Winner: Migas Platter (0.9 moles)

(Non-Breakfast) Tacos:

• Tastiest Beef: (tie) Cowboy / Mole Taco Sirloin (0.95 moles)
• Tastiest (and only) Bison: Thunder Heart Bison Picadillo (0.9 moles)
• Tastiest Chicken: Mole Taco Chicken (1 mole)
• Tastiest Fish: Scallop Taco (1.1 moles)
• Tastiest Pork: Lomo Especial (0.85 moles) 
• Tastiest Vegetarian: Frontera Fundido Portabella (0.9 moles) 
• Overall Lunch Taco Winner: Scallop Taco (1.1 moles)

Other Stuff:

• Tastiest Side: Mexican Mashed Potatoes (0.65 moles)
• Tastiest Ensalada o Sopa: (tie) Any Salad (0.8 moles)
• Tastiest Tortilla Creation: Vegetarian Burrito (0.8 moles)
• Tastiest Torta: (tie) Probably Any of Them (0.8 moles)
• Overall Other Stuff Result: It's all pretty good, but none is spectacular (0.8 moles)

Overall:

• Taco I Most Want to Try Again 'Cuz Man That Was Interesting: Picadillo (Beef) (0.85 moles)
• Tastiest Thing On the Menu: Scallop Taco (Thursday Special) (1.1 moles)
• Tastiest Non-Special (and Least Surprising Result): Mole Taco Chicken (1 mole)

So... where should I obsess over next?

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Posted in: eat the menu,food,Tacodeli

Food Revolution: Chicken and Leek Stroganoff to Vegan Mushroom Leek Heaven

On Tuesday, I made my second recipe from Jamie's Food Revolution: Chicken and Leek Stroganoff (sorry for the blurriness of the photo, I didn't notice that my lens was a bit dirty). The recipe is available on this blog. All I can say about this one is, well, they can't all be awesome. The parsley dominated the flavor way too much for my taste, and not in a pleasant way. I tasted a bit of it as I packed up the leftovers, and it was a little better after it sat for a bit... but last night I ate some of those leftovers, and it had gotten far worse. Anything with such a small window of deliciousness is a loser in my book. Sorry, Jamie, but I won't be making this one again! Oh, it also way failed the time test (over 40 minutes instead of the promised 19), but my version the next night took way less time, so I think at least part of it was me.

Something good did come of this recipe, though. I decided to remix it vegan (just to see how hard it would be to do so), and, in my opinion, my vegan remix is far tastier. It may be a bit sweet for some, but I liked it quite a bit (including in leftover form). To be clear, it really doesn't taste anything like the original, but the recipe is very close to identical and the process was exactly the same.

To produce the remix, I swapped portabella mushrooms for the chicken breasts in Jamie's recipe, cilantro for the parsley, coconut oil for the olive oil, and coconut cream for the heavy cream. I left out the pat of butter. I also mixed in a bit of a simple flour roux to thicken up the sauce, but I would do the same if I made Jamie's recipe again. Otherwise, I made everything exactly like Jamie's recipe. I will definitely make this again.

• a couple pinches sea salt (I use iodized sea salt so I don't get a goiter)
• 3/4 cup long-grain rice
• 1 large leek
• a big handful of crimini mushrooms
• 3 portabella mushroom caps
• coconut oil
• a glass of white wine*
• a pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• a bunch of fresh cilantro
• 1 1/4 cups coconut cream
• 1 lemon

Paraphrased from Jamie's recipe, with my substitutions and notes added in: Heat water to boiling in a kettle or large, covered pan. Transfer the water to the large pan (if necessary), and add a pinch of salt. Add your rice and bring it to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium, and cook for 15 minutes. Do the prep while the water is boiling, and you should, with luck, finish everything else about the time the rice is ready.

Cut both ends off the leek, quarter lengthways, and slice it into ~1/4-inch slices. Rinse well under running water in a colander. Slice the crimini mushrooms, and cut the portabella mushroom caps into "little-finger-size" pieces (to quote Jamie's description of what to do to the chicken).

Heat a large frying pan on high heat, and add a dollop of coconut oil. This is the point where hopefully your rice water will be boiling, and you can add the rice to it, maybe just a bit before here. Add the leek, white wine, and about a half a wine glass of water to the melted coconut oil, along with a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Cover it loosely with aluminum foil (honestly, I think a lid would be fine, just placed on loosely). Let it cook for 5 minutes. Chop the cilantro (stalks and all) while it bubbles. Remove the foil (or lid), and add everything but the lemon (and a little cilantro to add at the end to make things pretty): mushrooms and mushrooms, cilantro (except for a tiny bit of it), and coconut cream. Stir and bring back to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium, and simmer for 10 minutes. I removed as much of the solids as I could at this point and removed the heat, stirred in some flour-in-water, then heated back to boiling while stirring (to make it more gravy-like). I also squeeze half the lemon into the mixture at this point (after tasting it and deciding, yes, the lemon would be quite tasty in this sauce).

Drain the rice, and put it on each plate. Add some of the sauce, then the veggies, then finally the last bits of cilantro. Place a quarter of the lemon on each plate (which you can then squeeze on if desired). Jamie says season to taste, but does that really need to be included in the recipe? I say put salt and pepper on the table like a normal person, and people can use them if they want to use them.

Let me know if you try mine, particularly if you can think of a way to make it prettier. The sauce came out an ugly gray-brown, so I'd like to figure out a way to make it prettier... but other than that this may be my favorite "Hey, I came up with this!" recipe yet.

* I heard once that you should never cook with a wine you wouldn't drink, so I bought a reasonably priced bottle of wine that HEB's label told me would pair nicely with chicken (since it was originally paired with chicken). Drinking it as I made the recipe, it definitely passed the "I'd drink this" test. Unfortunately, I can't remember what it was, and the bottle already went out in recycling.

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Posted in: chicken,cilantro,food revolution,leeks,mushrooms,parsley,white wine

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Days 29 and 30

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

I haven't been to Tacodeli for two whole days, and yet I haven't caught up on my blog. I apologize. I think I'm going through withdrawal. All I have left is a breakfast taco, but I've eaten breakfast twice now without remembering that. Tomorrow morning I should finish it off.

Monday, June 14
I started off on Monday by knocking two things off the menu, the Avocado Salad and Chips and Queso. The Avocado Salad is described as "For avocado aficionados! Fresh avocados with a dressing made of tomatillos, serranos, cilantro and lime." Being an avocado lover, I expected this to be yummy, and I wasn't disappointed. I had finished it off before I remembered to take a photo. I give it 0.8 moles (and call the salad part of the soups and salads menu complete with this). The Chips and Queso was also pretty good, but I'm not really much of a queso fan (I know, insane). I put a little Salsa Roja into the somewhat-too-runny cheese, and it did come out pretty darned tasty. I give it 0.6 moles, which puts it just below the fantastic Mexican Mashed Potatoes as far as yummy sides.

Tuesday, June 15
Tuesday was the last lunch of my trek through the menu. Don't get me wrong, I'll be back at least weekly, but I don't have anything else new to try. It's both exciting and sad. Of course, now I get to work through the ties and refine my scores a bit, so I may not be done, exactly. My excitement got to me again on Tuesday, and the Frontera Fundido Chicken taco, "Grilled chicken with sauteéd poblano pepper and onion strips glazed with melted Monterrey jack cheese," was gone before I remembered to take a photo. The Frontera Fundidos have been strong in general, but the Portabella is still my favorite. The chicken was mighty tasty (0.85 moles worth), but I'll still stick to Portabella if I'm in a Frontera Fundido mood. I rounded out the meal with the Sopa Las Mañanitas, "Cuernavaca inspired tortilla soup made with a homemade chicken broth, chicken, fresh onion, tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, tortilla strips, avocado and lime." As far as I could translate the name, I thought it was "soup the little tomorrows," but Google Translate says it's "Happy Birthday Soup." I guess maybe that makes more sense. I always like Mexican and Tex-Mex soups, but there is only a small part of the year in which I actually want to eat them, and Tuesday wasn't such a day. It's also a little pricey for its level of yumminess (I'd rather get a taco), so I'm giving it 0.75 moles. It might score better on the 2-3 days of winter we get here in Austin every year.

Summary:

• Avocado Salad (and all other Tacodeli salads): 0.8 moles
• Chips and Queso: 0.6 moles
• Frontera Fundido Chicken: 0.85 moles
• Sopa Las Mañanitas: 0.75 moles

Tomorrow I plan to finish off my trek with a Migas Taco! I'm going to be on the coast for the weekend, but I should be able to upload the final update at some point. I may get a second taco to go with the Migas. What should I get?

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Posted in: eat the menu,food,Tacodeli