Crèche Menu #1

While reading Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman, I learned about the insanely gourmet meals French toddlers aged 3 to 5 are being served at their national form of preschool, the "crèche". Crèche doesn't teach kids math or reading; it teaches toddlers to socialize and to explore their senses, particularly their sense of taste. Every day, French children at crèche sit down to a four course meal, consisting of a vegetable course, main course, cheese/dairy course, and dessert. These meals are planned meticulously in advance to ensure the widest variety of colors and flavors without repetition.

As an American, it is difficult to imagine young children or even adults sitting down to such complex and civilized meals every day. We live in a land of picky eaters, generally of the starch and meat variety. Most restaurants in America offer kids meals consisting of chicken nuggets, burgers and fries, and not much else. Good luck getting your child to eat his vegetables, much less a smelly chunk of ripe blue cheese. The French believe that taste is something to be developed; if your child doesn't like a particular vegetable, serve it again a week later, perhaps cooked another way that may be more to his liking. They believe most people can grow to develop a taste for almost anything if one's palette is developed at an early enough age.

I found some sample menus of what the French are serving at crèche at http://karenlebillon.com/tag/french-kids-school-lunch-project/ . I thought I'd take a stab at one such menu. Here is what was served September 30, 2013 in Paris:

Salad: Lentil Salad with tomatoes
Main: Roast pork or turkey, with peas and carrots
Cheese/Dairy: Brie
Dessert:  A kiwi

I found a lentil salad recipe on Epicurious, and picked up a pre-seasoned lemon/herb pork loin at the supermarket. Like the Paris creche, I served brie cheese, but opted for white peaches instead of kiwi for dessert.

Lentil Salad with tomatoes and dill

Ingredients

1 cup dried lentils (preferably small French lentils)

1 large garlic clove, chopped

1 tsp salt, or to taste

¾ lb tomatoes, diced (2 cups)

4 large scallions, thinly sliced

¼ cup chopped fresh dill

¼ cup thinly sliced fresh basil

3 tbsp red-wine vinegar, or to taste

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

¼ tsp black pepper

Preparation

Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan with lentils, garlic, and ½ tsp salt, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until lentils are just tender, 15 to 25 minutes. Drain in a large sieve, then transfer to a large bowl.

Toss hot lentils with tomatoes, scallions, dill, basil, vinegar, oil, pepper, and remaining ½ tsp salt, or to taste.

 

My first crèche-inspired meal turned out quite nicely. Thanks for reading!

Deluxe Chicken Salad (Julia Child)

I found this recipe for Deluxe Chicken Salad in Julia Child's The Way to Cook, published in 1989, which is aimed at a "new generation of cooks who have not grown up in the old traditions, yet who need a basic knowledge of good food so that they may enjoy fresh, healthy home cooking." Here, as compared to Mastering the Art of French Cooking, you find fewer aspics and less butter. Most of the recipes in The Way to Cook are "low in fat or even fat-free," which is a wild departure from her earlier French recipes for which she is famous.

While she acknowledges that times have changed and people have become more health-conscious since the '60s when her first book was published, she also adds that "too many people nowadays are deathly afraid of their food." She argues that such worry creates an "unhappy and suspicious stomach" which surely causes harm to the digestive system and body as a whole. She recommends, instead of total abstinence, creating an imaginary shelf labeled INDULGENCES, for ingredients such as butter, heavy cream, sausages and pates. "Never lose sign of a beautifully conceived meal," she says.

As long as I'm getting adequate exercise, eating sensible portions, and cooking from good, wholesome ingredients, I consider eating to be a natural and health-giving part of life, and also one of its greatest pleasures. So cook on, my friends, and don't be one of those people who worry so much about calorie-counting and the evils of butter to enjoy a thoughtful, delicious meal.

I made this chicken salad for my book club. To cook the chicken, I used Julia Child's master recipe for Sauteed Chicken (p. 137 The Way to Cook). Lacking a food processor, I used store-bought low-fat mayonnaise instead of the preferred homemade mayo, and also subbed almonds for walnuts. This chicken salad is great on croissants, or with a few dashes of cayenne pepper for a little kick. Enjoy!

Deluxe Chicken or Turkey Salad

6 cups cooked skinless and boneless chicken or turkey that has been cut into good-size bites, such as rectangles about 1 by 1 1/2 inches and 1/4 inch thick

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

1 to 2 tbs light virgin olive oil

2 to 3 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp finely cut fresh tarragon leaves, or 1/4 tsp fragrant dried tarragon

1 cup diced tender celery stalks

1/2 cup minced scallions or mild onion

1 cup chopped walnuts, optional

3/4 cup or more mayonnaise, preferably homemade

1 medium head romaine, washed and dried

Instructions

1. Toss the chicken or turkey in a big mixing bowl with the salt, pepper, and enough oil to enrobe the meat very lightly. Then toss with the lemon juice, and finally with the herbs, celery, onions, and optional walnuts. Taste analytically, and correct seasoning. Let steep 10 minutes, tossing several times. *May be completed a day in advance to this point; cover and refrigerate.*

2.  Drain any accumulated liquid out of the salad, correct seasoning again, and fold in just enough mayonnaise to enrobe the ingredients.

Serving suggestion: Shred the lettuce and arrange in a bowl or on a platter and mount the salad over it; spread a light coating of mayonnaise on top.

Broiled Stuffed Mushrooms & Boeuf Bourguignon (Julia Child)

While reading a book called Bringing Up Bebe for my book club this month, which is mainly about French parenting but also about the French lifestyle and it's eating habits, I have been inspired to bring more French methods into my kitchen and more French dishes to my table. Where better to turn for instruction than to Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking? For years I've been intimidated by this tome, sitting on my bookshelf, mocking me. I've flipped through the recipes plenty of times, but have only ever attempted one or two.

But when I got my hands on Julia Child's public television program, "The French Chef" from my local library, I was inspired to finally get cooking. If you haven't seen The French Chef, these videos are absolute gems. First off, Julia Child is hilarious! And her attitude is always fun and accessible. She makes these advanced dishes look relatively easy, and encourages novice home-cooks to give them a whirl. So I did! 

I started with a recipe for Broiled Stuffed Mushrooms from season 2, episode 1 of The French Chef, Vegetables: The French Way. They were delicious! I served my mushrooms with sweet potato fries and sausage. 

Feeling thus emboldened, I ordered my first Dutch Oven (Lodge 4.5-quart enameled cast-iron) from Amazon.com, and took a stab at Julia Child's famous Boeuf Bourguignon. I managed not to screw it up, and had a memorable night with friends as we shared this special dish. 

Broiled Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

8 large mushrooms

2 tbsp. butter

2 shallots, minced

1 tbsp. flour

Heavy cream

Salt and pepper

Swiss cheese, finely grated

Parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. Wash, trim and dry mushrooms, then remove the stems by gently rocking stems back and forth until they come out. Chop the stems finely. Squeeze the juice out of the chopped stems. 

2. Heat about 2 tbsp. of butter in pan, and add mushroom pieces. Add 1 or 2 minced shallots. Cook for about 4-5 minutes, stirring often. They are done when mushroom pieces begin to separate from each other. 

3. Add about 1 tbsp of flour. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add heavy cream (enough to make fairly thick mass once mixture cooks down). Add some salt, pepper, and a bit of parsley. 

4. Rub mushroom heads with butter and place in a baking dish. Fill the mushroom heads with the sauce. Top with grated Swiss cheese. 

5. Brown the mushrooms 5-6 inches under the broiler when you are ready to serve them. It should take about 5 minutes

Boeuf Bourguignon

See: Mastering the Art of French Cooking, page 315, or this YouTube video.

"The way to a full and healthy life is to adopt the sensible system of 'small helpings, no seconds, no snacking, and a little bit of everything.' And above all -  have a good time!" - Julia Child

Bon appetit!

Agua Fresca

I have been making a lot of agua fresca during this hot summer. Here are some of my favorite recipes that I've tried so far...

1. Agua de Pina

Ingredients

1 ripe pineapple, cubed

4 cups water, or more as desired to dilute the pineapple juice

Simple syrup of sugar and water ( if desired)

Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Cut the top and bottom of the pineapple off and then remove all outer skin. Chop up pineapple, including the core.

2. Put the cut-up pineapple into the blender with up to a quarter cup of water. Puree until completely smooth.

3. Position a small strainer, covered in a double layer of cheesecloth, over a large bowl. Pour a bit of puree into the center of the cheesecloth. Close tightly and begin to twist and gently squeeze over the strainer so that the juice strains into the bowl. Repeat this process several times with the rest of the puree. The pineapple puree should yield between 2 1/2 and 3 cups of juice.

4. Make a simple syrup to add to your juice, if desired (ratio is 1/2 c. sugar to 1 c. water). 

5. Combine the pineapple juice, water, and any simple syrup (if you wish to sweeten it). Add a small pinch of salt. Stir well and refrigerate until well-chilled, about an hour. 

Source: http://theothersideofthetortilla.com/2010/08/agua-fresca-agua-de-pina/ 

2. Horchata

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked white long-grain rice

5 cups water

3/4 cup milk

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup white sugar

Instructions

1. Pour the rice and water into the bowl of a blender; blend until rice just begins to break up, about 1 minute. Pour into a bowl, add cinnamon, and cover. Let rice, water and cinnamon stand at room temperature for a minimum of three hours. 

2. Strain the rice and water into a pitcher (preferably through a sieve lined with cheesecloth) and discard the rice. Stir the milk, vanilla and sugar into the rice water. Chill and stir before serving over ice. 

Too Much Chocolate Cake

For Jessa's birthday, I made a delicious cake using two recipes from Allrecipes.com. It was a BIG hit! Many people commented that the cake looked professional, and tasted awesome. Somehow this cake manages to seem both rich and light at the same time. The flavor is a chocolate-lover's dream. The texture is moist and spongey. The best thing about this cake is how easy it is to prepare, and yet how impressive it turns out.

Too Much Chocolate Cake

1 (18.25 oz) package devil's food cake mix
1 (5.9 oz) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
3. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar.

Satiny Chocolate Glaze

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a double boiler over hot, but not boiling water, combine chocolate chips, butter, and corn syrup. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, then add vanilla.
2. Spread warm glaze over top of cake, letting it drizzle down the sides.

(Or just microwave first three ingredients for about a minute, then add vanilla extract.)

Pour Satiny Chocolate Glaze over Too Much Chocolate Cake (after cooling), sprinkle with some mini chocolate chips, then voila! You're done! Now you can share your creation with a few lucky friends.

Enjoy :) 

-Little Chef

Chiles Stuffed with Beef

Last night I stumbled across a recipe book entitled, simply, "Mexican: a collection of over 100 essential recipes." There are a pretty wide range of simple Mexican recipes in here, but the recipe for stuffed poblano peppers really got me excited. So, on a whim, I was off to the store to cook dinner for two with this new recipe. Verdict? These lil guys are mucho chingon. Awesome.

Ingredients:
4 large fresh poblano chiles
all purpose flour, for dusting
vegetable oil, for frying

Spicy beef filling:
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 tbsp. dry or sweet sherry
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of ground cumin
salt and pepper
14 oz. canned chopped tomatoes
1-3 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp. vinegar
3 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
2-3 tbsp. coursely chopped toasted almonds
Tomato Sauce (I used spicy canned Mexican hot sauce)

Batter:
3 eggs, separated
6-8 tbsp. all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1/2 c. water

Method:
1. Preheat boiler to medium. Roast the chiles under hot broiler until skin is charred. Place in a plastic bag, twist to seal well, and let stand for 20 mins. Make a slit in the side of each chile and remove the seeds, leaving the stalks intact. Set aside.
2. To make the filling, brown meat and onion together in a skillet over medium heat. Pour off any extra fat, then add the garlic and sherry and boil down until liquid has nearly evaporated.
3. Add cinnamon, cloves, cumin and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the tomatoes, sugar, and vinegar, and cook over medium heat until tomatoes have reduced to a thick, strongly flavored sauce.
4. Stir in the cilantro and almonds and heat through. Stuff as much of the filling into the chiles as will fit, then dust each with flour. Set aside.
5. To make the batter, in a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs yolks with the flour, salt, and enough of the water to make a thick mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold the eggs whites into the batter, then gently dip each stuffed chile into the batter.
6. Heat the oil in a deep skillet until very hot and just smoking. Add the chiles and fry until they are golden brown. Serve hot, topped with tomato sauce.

Quiche

First of all, I just love quiche. I love how you can use a simple base recipe and do just about anything with it, much like a pizza, or a sandwich, or a burger, or well... you know, whatever. I've made a couple quiches in my day, but this is the recipe I like to use for a very quick and easy quiche, from Allrecipes.com

Quick Quiche

8 slices bacon

4 oz shredded Swiss cheese

2 tbsp butter, melted

4 eggs, beaten

1/4 c. finely chopped onion

1 tsp salt

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 c. milk

Makes 6 servings

The things I always change with this recipe is to substitute turkey bacon and cut down on the salt. To make me feel healthy. Also, I usually use almond milk because that's what I have. Other than that, you can change pretty much anything besides the egg/butter/flour/milk base. This quiche doesn't have a crust; the crust is made by laying the bacon or meat of choice and cheese at the bottom of the dish before baking. And it's still really, really good without a proper crust! 

Today, I made my quiche with turkey bacon, Swiss cheese, onions and spinach, and topped it with tomatoes. I'll try to update this post with other quiche variations I make at later dates, because it's one of my favorite versatile meals for any time of day.

Quiche #1

Bon appetit! 

Slammin' Salmon, Rice Pilaf & Moscow Mule

First off tonight, we are having drinks! Since I'm fresh off a bachelorette weekend in New Orleans, I've gotten used to having a cocktail with dinner (and breakfast, and lunch, and well... all the time). Here is a contemporary classic which I thoroughly enjoy.

Moscow Mule
Vodka
Ginger beer
Lime juice

Light, refreshing, and potent, the Moscow Mule is my kind of drink.

For dinner, I wanted to try a new salmon dish, and stumbled upon this Slammin' Salmon at Allrecipes.com. Also from Allrecipes, Sarah's Rice Pilaf is a dish I recently made for my book club, the Lush Scholars. It was a big hit, gobbled all up even after doubling the recipe. I was eager to taste it again tonight, and thought it would pair nicely with the salmon.


Sarah's Rice Pilaf (4 servings)

Orzo and onion simmering in butter

2 tbsp. butter
1/2 c. orzo pasta
1/2 c. diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
2 c. chicken broth

1. Melt butter in skillet over med-low heat. Stir in orzo and cook until golden grow. Stir in onion; cook until it becomes translucent. Add garlic, cook for 1 minute. Mix in rice and chicken broth. Increase heat to high; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med-low, then cover and simmer about 20-25 minutes.

Slammin' Salmon (4 servings)
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 tsp. salt

Final product

1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. black pepper
t tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. chopped green onions
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 c. peanut oil
8 (4 oz.) skinless, boneless salmon fillets

1. Combine all ingredients besides the salmon to make a marinade.
2. Pour marinade into a resealable bag, add salmon, and toss to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 2 to 24 hours.
3. Prepare grill, oven, or broiler.
4. Drain off excess marinade, and grill for about 4 minutes each side, or equivalent in oven or broiler.

*

Is there anything more pleasing than the smell of cooking butter? Butter really does make everything better. Though simple on its surface, this rice pilaf recipe delivers a great balance of comforting flavors. It is great as a simple complement to a more complex main course. Basically, it's Rice-A-Roni, but way better.

Now.... the salmon... is out of this world. Granted, I am a salmon-lover to begin with, but this Asian-tasting marinade took it to a new level. I  marinated my salmon for about 2 hours, but could see this dish improving with more marinating. I also cooked mine in the broiler, but I'm sure this would be fantastic on the grill. I recommend setting a little marinade aside to drizzle over your salmon once it's done.

Thank you for reading.
-Little Chef TX

Basil Frittata

What, you may ask, is a frittata? Well, that's a great question. Before stumbling upon this recipe, I had neither tasted, nor seen, nor heard of a frittata. Basically, it's a bit like an omelet, made with eggs and served as an appetizer or light supper -- or for breakfast, why not? This frittata also has potatoes, basil and Parmesan, but, like an omelet, can be made a million different ways. Unlike an omelet, however, the frittata is never folded, but cooked "open-faced" in a pan (very slowly on low heat), then finished under the broiler (under high heat for a couple minutes).

Mine came out pretty good, but I could see how this dish might take some practice to get it just right. I was never really sure what was going on at the bottom of my pan, and had to test it a few times. This recipe for basil frittata was found on p.53 of Marcella Cucina.

2 medium potatoes, about 3/4 lb.
2 tbsp. butter
1/3 c. chopped onion
4 eggs
salt
black pepper
1/2 c. fresh basil, cut into very thin strips
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

 

Thanks for reading!

-Little Chef TX

Broccoli and Mozzarella Pasta Sauce

From Marcella Cucina - p. 146 (Sauces)

Broccoli and Mozzarella Pasta Sauce

1/2 lb. broccoli
salt
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. chopped garlic

1/4 lb. mozzarella, chopped fine
2 tbsp. coursely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
1/4 c. fresly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

This recipe makes less of a "sauce," at least by my definition, and more of a "coating." The mixture is not watery -- it clings perfectly to the pasta and leaves nothing behind. What I loved about the recipe is its simplicity, the harmony of ingredients. None stand out above the others. The garlic is not overpowering. The flavor of the broccoli is evened out by the butter and the cheese, etc.

In her introduction to this book, Marcella Hazan has a few things to say about this quality of Italian cooking:

"The universal quality that Italy's regions can claim from their cooking is that it is kind to the palate. It is food that charms the palate with flavors that are fresh, clear, plain-spoken, direct often to the point of artlessness, and even bold, but not overbearing... On pasta, sauce is used with restraint, to coat, not to blanket. What you can expect of careful Italain cooking... is a mannerly approach to garlic: It is never employed with intemperate profusion nor so overbrowned that its presence becomes obtrusive, oafishly shouldering aside that of other ingredients in the dish."

She encourages cooks to "think taste" and "make music."

Baked Tomatoes Stuffed with Salmon, Garlic and Capers

Tonight, with temperatures dropping into the '30s, I'm taking a departure from Mexican and turning to Marcella Hazan for a little Italian-style comfort food. While I'm still waiting to get my hands on Hazan's more famous Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, I've found some pretty yummy-looking dishes in her more recent cookbook, Marcella Cucina ("Marcella cooks").

As an appetizer, Hazan's recipe for salmon-stuffed baked tomatoes, accompanied by a full-page, mouth-watering color photo of the finished product, immediately caught my eye. When one of the cooks caught me staring off into space during work this morning, asking me if I was "on the moon," I was in fact dreaming of this dish. Needless to say, I'm excited. And hungry.

Baked Tomatoes Stuffed with Salmon, Garlic and Capers

1 tbsp capers, packed in salted
1 lb. salmon
3 1/2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp. very finely chopped garlic
2 tbsp. fine, dry, unflavored bread crumbs
salt
black pepper
two large ripe, firm tomatoes, weighing approximately 3/4 lb. each

Found me a couple fat tomatoes at the store. Halved each horizontally, scooped out the insides, and stuffed with this tantalizing salmon mixture: salmon, garlic, Italian flat-leaf parsley, capers, olive oil, plain breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. The cats were veeeery interested in the salmon.

Bongo and Poppy: "Feed us!!!"

Before popping in the oven, my tomatoes looked like this:

Before

Then after, like this:

Mouthgasms

These are both impressive and delicious! The tomato really picks up the flavors of the salmon mixture, and the salmon mixture itself is just.... mmmmm. Considering how gourmet these little guys turn out, the work you put in is negligible. Great freakin' recipe! I could see this being the kind of thing you'd want to make for your mother-in-law to win her over to your cause.

- Little Chef TX

Mariscos a la Marinara (Seafood Cocktail) y Enchiladas Sencillas (Simple Enchiladas)

Tonight, I began teaching my first cooking class! So far, I only have one student: my sister, Lisa. As it is her New Years resolution to learn to cook, and it is mine (casually), to cook more,  we make a good match. So I carted a box of cooking equipment to my childhood home in Garland, where my sister is living, to make two dishes: Mariscos a la Marinara, and Enchiladas Sencillas. Once again, these are recipes from Diana Kennedy's famous cookbook, The Essential Cuisines of Mexico.

We started at the grocery store, picking through the produce for the best our local grocer had to offer. For those less acquainted with home-cooking, it is  important to learn how to pick produce. Look for the ripe, red tomatoes, the brown but not mushy avocados, the deep green peppers, etc. If you ever find yourself with a cooking student, bring them with you to shop for ingredients! It is helpful, and you can make them carry the basket for you!

Mariscos a la Marinara (Seafood Cocktail) - p. 13

Basically, Mariscos a la Marinara requires a lot of chopping: tomatoes, serranos, white onion, avocado, and cilantro, mixed with shrimps, lime juice, and olive oil, with no cooking involved.What you get is a juicy but crispy, super fresh concoction unlike most seafood cocktails I've tried, mostly because it lacks that distinctive, horseradishy taste of bottled cocktail sauce. I missed that familiar flavor for about two seconds, then couldn't get enough of this stuff. We used cooked shrimps, though Kennedy also recommends using clams or uncooked scallops.

Nice chopping, Lisa!

Enchiladas Sencillas (Simple Enchiladas) - p.59

The tomato sauce:

Broiled tomatoes

Garlic clove

Fresh serranos, toasted

Vegetable oil

Salt

Thick sour cream at room temp.

For this sauce, you will need to use your broiler -- a high-heat oven setting which will give your vegetables a nice char. It is basically grilling, but in the oven. Move your oven rack about 4 inches below (or above) your heat source, and cook the tomatoes and serranos for a few minutes. Be careful not to burn.

Then, in a blender, puree your tomatoes, garlic and serranos until smooth. Heat oil in a skillet, then fry the sauce in the oil for about 5 min. Add salt and remove from heat. Stir sour cream into the sauce once it has cooled a bit. 

"Nom nom" sauce

The enchiladas

Vegetable oil for frying

Corn tortillas

Scrambled eggs, or cooked, shredded chicken (we used chicken)

White onion

Heat oil in skillet, and quickly fry tortillas, about 5 seconds each side. Drain on paper towels, then stack. Dip tortillas into the sauce, spoon chicken and onions onto tortillas, then roll. Sauce, sprinkle with remaining onion, and cover with cheese. 

Bake in oven about 10 minutes, then voila! 

We loved these enchiladas, especially that good creamy sauce! Good wine, great food, and even better company -- a perfect night of cooking :) I wonder what we'll make for next month's class?

- Little Chef TX

Arroz Verde (Green Rice)

From The Essential Cuisines of Mexico - p. 163

With plenty of meat, sauce and tortillas leftover from last night's meal, I thought today I'd make a tasty side dish to accompany round two of Enchiladas Placeras. In the Beans, Rice, and Pasta section of Diana Kennedy's The Essential Cuisines of Mexico, I found this recipe, dog-eared, in the copy I'm borrowing from the library. Well, perfect! Arroz Verde sounds great.

At my restaurant, we have a version of green rice, but it is different from this recipe. The "green" in our rice comes from Anaheim or Hatch green chiles (when available), not poblanos, and uses a veggie base instead of chicken stock. I'm curious to see how the taste of Kennedy's rice compares with that of my restaurant and other variations I've tried.

Ingredients:
White rice
Vegetable oil
Flat-leaf parsley
Cilantro
Romaine lettuce
Poblano chiles
White onion
Garlic clove
Chicken broth
Salt

Process:
1. First, heat up some water use it to soak the uncooked rice for about 5 mins. Drain, rinse, drain some more.
2. Fry rice in hot oil until it turns a pale golden color. Drain off excess oil.

3. Blend all the green ingredients, onion and garlic in a blender with a bit of water.

4. Add the green mixture to the rice; fry on high heat until rice is almost dry. Add chicken broth and salt, cook on medium for about 15 mins until liquid is absorbed.
5. Cover pan and continue cooking 5 mins. Remove from heat; cover with terry cloth to steam for another 20-30 mins.

Results:

Amazing!! The texture of the rice after steaming under a cloth (I used a standard kitchen towel) was absolutely perfect. All those strong green flavors simmer down a bit, and just make for a lovely flavor. I'm no expert, but this is some of the best rice I've ever had. And now my apartment smells like a fresh, green garden.

BTW, Arroz Verde pairs perfectly with Enchiladas Placeras and a nice glass of sangria.

Buen apetito!

-Little Chef TX

Enchiladas Placeras (Enchiladas Served in the Central Plaza)

From The Art of Mexican Cooking - p.19.

Enchiladas as described by Diana Kennedy look much different than the Tex-Mex fare I've seen all my life. My idea of an enchilada is cheese and perhaps meat rolled up in a corn tortilla, covered with more cheese and your sauce of choice (which may also be made of cheese), heated and served. The end result is cheesy, chewy, and saucy. Not generally my go-to entree, when there are so many awesome and inventive tacos to be found on any Tex-Mex menu.

These enchiladas employ a different technique: no baking, just assembling the components (sauce, filling, and tortillas) while piping hot, and serving immediately. This recipe for Enchiladas Placeras is labor-intensive, though this time I cheated by buying pre-made corn tortillas. The meat and sauce were built from scratch, and resulted in an awesomely fresh and flavorful entree, a great-smelling apartment, and a satisfying meal.

Salud!

The Meat: Salpicon de Res (Shredded Meat Cooked with Tomatoes, Chiles, and Cilantro)

The recipe calls for a skirt or flank steak, cut into 2-inch pieces, and simmered with onion, cilantro, garlic and salt for about 35 minutes.

After simmering, the meat is chopped roughly, and fried with onion, garlic, chopped tomatoes, chiles serranos en escabeche (pickled serranos) and cilantro.

Mmmmmmm....

The sauce: Salsa de Jitomate (Cooked Tomato Sauce)

Tomatoes are simmered quickly with fresh serranos, then blended with garlic and a little water. Simple. Then, the sauce is cooked in oil over high heat, which incorporates the flavors and thickens it up. The time-consuming part of the sauce is all the chopping you have to do before it hits the blender. The blending and cooking take no time at all.

Add salt, taste, repeat.

Once you've completed your meat and sauce, which should be kept hot, lightly cook your corn tortillas in safflower oil (or lard, if you prefer) about 5 seconds each side. Stack them up, then dip tortillas individually into the hot sauce. Spoon meat onto tortilla, roll, sauce, and top with a bit of chopped white onion and grated queso anejo or Romano cheese. Here is my end result:

In total, it took me about 2 hours to complete my Enchiladas Placeras. Highlights for me were the flavor and heartiness of the meat filling, the clean-tasting, spicy, thin sauce, and the fact that there was so little cheese, which made the other elements stand out. 

Buen apetito!

-Little Chef TX

Bienvenidos!

Greetings from an aspiring chef.

I have started this blog as a platform for chronicling my journey to become a better cook, using cookbooks, online recipes, trial and error, my own two hands, and my very tiny kitchen in my very small apartment in Dallas, Texas.

I have always loved food, and have always felt at home in the kitchen.My family has always told me I have a "knack" for cooking, urging me to pursue it as a career. Culinary art school, maybe, then onward into the real world of professional cooking. But, I'm told, the culinary art school path is not necessarily the best or only option toward achieving professional status.

I currently work in a casual Tex-Mex restaurant, where I started as a server and now primarily work as an expo, traying up orders and sending them on their way to the dining room. Working in this environment has given me a more realistic view of what it takes to work in a kitchen. It's hard, messy, fast-pace, and dangerous. Really good cooks can be found working as line cooks in kitchens the world over, pumping out the same plates day-in and day-out, creating a human assembly line to feed the masses. There is little art in this work, though there are certainly standards and an expectation of taking pride in the food you sell.

Having spent some time on the line, and I can tell you it is not easy. And though it may not be art, there is a good deal of skill required. In order to work in any kitchen, you've got to earn your stripes. Often, this means working your way up from dishwasher, to prep cook, to line cook, then maybe on up to sous chef in a fine dining environment. Then maybe, MAYBE, one day, you may earn the title of chef. This, to me, is indicative of having transformed your culinary skills into an art.

I hope to get there one day. But, for now, I'm just a small-time, wanna-be cook looking to brush up on my skills, and to spend more time doing what I love. To achieve these ends, I've picked up a few cookbooks from the library, and am excited to dive in and start trying some new recipes.

First up is an exploration into Mexican cuisine with The Essential Cuisines of Mexico and The Art of Mexican Cooking by Diana Kennedy. Should be fun! Thanks for reading.

-Little Chef TX