“Top Chef” contestant coming to town; Season 5 update
Tre Wilcox
First things first. A local mother of 5 recently won an essay contest through momtourage.com, the parenting page powered by ivillage.com, and part of her prize is a meal prepared by Tre Wilcox of Season 3 fame. Look for more information about the winner in next Wednesday’s Life section in The Oklahoman.
I recently talked to Tre about his upcoming trip, what he’s doing now and why the heck he cooked salmon in a barbecue competition.
All that and a wrapup of episode two of the ongoing season of Top Chef are in today’s podcast.
And here’s last night’s recipe:
Double Cheese enchiladas
1 cup shredded Tillamook cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped onion
1-2 serranos chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups Red River chili (we used the mushroom and toasted pecan variation)
6 corn tortillas
6 slices provolone cheese
half cup or so of canola oil
We were using left over chili, so start out by pouring the cream into a sauce pan over high heat. Once the boil turns furious, turn it to low. Simmer until the cream is reduced by half, then add the chili. Let it simmer until you’re ready to add it to the enchiladas.
Mix the shredded cheese, onions and peppers in a bowl and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Using a small skillet, pour in enough oil to cover the bottom. Set burner to medium high. When the oil is hot, put in a tortilla. After 2 or 3 second flip the tortilla and place a slice of provolone on the tortilla. After about 5 seconds, move the tortilla into a small casserole dish. Put a spoonful of the cheese mixture on one side of the tortilla and roll it up. Continue until you’ve got 6 enchiladas. Put them in the over for 10 minutes, then add the sauce for the last five. Keep an eye on the sauce, if it looks like it’s drying out, pull it.
We actually lined the bottom of the casserole with leftover Spanish rice before adding the enchiladas. So, if you’ve got some cooked rice in the fridge, by all means use it.
Top Chef returns
Catch up up on the season premiere of Top Chef fifth season in our latest podcast. Staff writers Bryan Dean and Carrie Coppernoll join in the discussion. For a full recap of the first show, check out this blog from “Top Chef” podcast originator JaRena Lunsford.
As promised, here is the menu at Le Castle Dude of Food:
Caprese vs. Corinth vs. Culiacan Salad
1 sliced green onion
1 thinly sliced roma tomato
1 sliced serrano pepper
2 tablespoons Feta Cheese
1/2 teaspoon pink peppercorns
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar.
Salt and pepper.
Simply mix and serve.
Fusion of sausage, onion and peppers
4-6 ounces sliced Spanish chorizo
1/4 red onion or two shallots sliced
1-2 serranos sliced
1 teaspoon regular olive oil
Salt and pepper.
Slice the chorizo as thin as you can. Heat the oil then drop in the chorizo and saute on med-high heat about a minute. Flip the slices and add the onion and pepper. Salt and pepper and remove from heat just after the onions and peppers become translucent. Drain on a towel and serve on crusty bread with a dollop of the caprese.
Falcone’s Beware
Stumbled into Perri’s Pizza and Cafe for lunch today. The wife had some shoes to pick up at Zeigler’s Shoe Repair in Casady Square. Perri’s was a couple doors down.
It’s in the space previously occupied by Jimmy’s Deli, which was always a cut above, under a nondescript banner. When I walked in the door and saw the available fare, I knew it was going to be serious. The pizza, sold by the slice as well as whole pies, looked perfect. The meatball were bathing in a homemade ragu in neat rows, topped with fresh parsley. Today’s special, eggplant parmesan, looked like it had just been made.
I got the meatball sandwich, Lori the eggplant.
Wow. Everything was handmade and perfect.
And then there’s the breadsticks. I’ve already sent one friend over and told him to order at least 5 of these incredible delights.
They also serve philly cheesesteaks, which is next on my list.
Perri’s is on the western tip of Casady Square on Britton, just across from Arby’s.
While Falcone’s Pizza and Deli has captured the local imagination with it’s New York style and owner Danny Falcone’s authentic personality, Perri’s seems to have been making its own bread and testing sauce until it was perfected.
Where does he got all those wonderful spices?
Today’s Red River Chili recipe includes a few dried chiles you might not have seen in the store before.
While the state boast many fine gourmet shops, the biggest boost to finding a greater variety of chiles falls squarely on the rise in the Hispanic population. There are markets that specialize in Hispanic imports statewide.
That said, I go straight to the source: Pendery’s in Dallas/Ft. Worth.
Pendery’s claims to be the birthplace of chile blending, what we now call chile powder. I have visited their retail store in Ft. Worth dozens of times, and I’ve been shopping with them online for years. Not once have I been unable to find the chile I’m looking for.
What they don’t have is fresh chiles. As I mentioned, the rise of Hispanic markets has increased availabilty of poblano peppers as well as a larger supply of jalapenos, serranos and habaneros.
To read about Pendery’s history and check out their supply, go to www.penderys.com.
In search of a bowl of chili
First things first. The chili you order in a restaurant is different than chili you might eat at cookoff. The meat is almost always ground beef and beans are often cooked into the mix. Also, the brew is usually thinner as long cooking times and less spices are usually used.
That doesn’t make it bad.
While chili parlors used to dot the landscape like Starbucks, few remain.
Tulsa appears to be the state’s chili mecca.
Not does it have Ike’s, but Ron’s Chili and Burgers started there, too. Ron’s has since spread across to Oklahoma City.
Have yet to go to a place that specializes in onion burgers that doesn’t serve chili. Same with coney establishments.
While Chili’s does serve a bowl of the red, it’s off the menu. They will serve you a bowl if you ask for it, and it’s a pretty fair rendition.
If you know of any good chili joints out there, let me know. I’m always on the lookout.
Variations on a pot of chili
One of the beauties of chili is its flexibility. It’s great by itself, but you know you love to smother a coney, burger or plate of fries with it. Here’s 8 uses for leftover chili
1. With a healthy dose of water or broth, chili can be converted into a hearty enchilada sauce.
2. Mixed with a couple tablespoons of sour cream and a little dry mustard, you can turn it into a spicy version of Beef Stroganoff.
3. Stir fry it with rice and an egg as either an omelet or terrific breakfast taco.
4. Mix it with refried beans and wrap it in a burrito with cheese and onions for burrito.
5. Add more water, some sliced tomatoes and sliced and boiled potatoes. Give this new mix at least another 20 minutes cooking time and you’ve got carne guisada.
6. Add leftover Thanksgiving turkey and, if you’re feeling adventurous, stuffing for a holiday leftovers you don’t dread.
7. Ever hear of Frito Pie?
8. Using the thinned version mentioned above, spread it over flat bread and add your favorite cheese(s), red onions, and sliced Spanish chorizo to make a pizza that will make you never want to call Little Caesar’s again.
History shows chili soothes the soul
When the young, upwardly mobile of the late 19th Century descended upon a young land called
Snake-oil salesmen, saloon-owners, traveling theater troupes, launderers, clergymen joined food vendors in attempting to civilize the wind-blown plainsmen.
Chili parlors started popping up before 1900 in Oklahoma and enjoyed prosperity for more than 50 years. According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, 33 chili parlors are documented in 16 communities from 1897 through 1948, including Perry, Grant,
Ike’s Chili Parlor opened in Tulsa around that time. It lasted long enough to become a favorite haunt of Will Rogers. He apparently regularly coughed up 15 cents for hot bowl at Ike’s. That, obviously, was Depression-proof pricing. And so Ike’s carried on, gaining fame when Peggy Cass announced to a national television audience on “What’s My Line?” during the 1960s, that Ike’s was indeed the best chili in the country and that she had some in her freezer at home. Ike’s still thrives in Tulsa at 5941 E Admiral.Lyndon Johnson, born and reared on the banks of the Pedernales River, understood the soul-soothing qualities of good chili.
Johnson never figured out Hippies or Vietnam as president. He left the Democratic Party in a shambles. He won a close Senate election against Gov. Coke Stevenson in which a key district later showed voters, in a miraculous show of coincidence, cast their lots in alphabetical order.
And yet, bus tours still run daily to his family ranch.
I like to think it’s because his wife, Lady Bird, made Pedernales River chili a household recipe during the LBJ’s abbreviated stay in the White House. LBJ is remembered as a good ol’ boy and Lady Bird has a library named after her.
Chili, not a divider!
And think what might’ve been had State Rep. Randy Terrill been around back in the 19-oughts. We might not have any chili at all. The original Ike and his nephew Ivan Johnson, purportedly got the chili recipe from an employee named Alex Garcia, of, umm, Texas.
Doubt he had a green card.
Would you have us a chili-free state, Randy? Lucky for you, this information wasn’t circulated before the elections.
Pack your knives and tune it
A little over 24 hours from the return of “Top Chef” on Bravo. It premieres Wednesday night at 9. Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi and Gail Simmons return as judges. Gone is Ted Allen to the greener pastures of The Food Network, replaced by Toby Young.
I’ve always thought Ted was great, but he might not be the type of TV Bravo was looking for. Ted’s always been thoughtful, intellectual but not afraid to lend fair criticism.
Toby Young has made a career of more or less pissing off those around him. Methinks Bravo is seeking the “Puck Factor.”
Until last season, most of the contentiousness and conflict was between the contestants. Last season, some of the chefs took the judges to task, showing a new exploitative avenue.
Emotion is what puts the TV in Reality TV. Whether it’s weeping would-be pop divas or machine gun bleeping from an overwrought chef, outburst affect viewers. Once compelled, they’re lost forever. It all goes back to Puck from the Real World. Oi.
But I haven’t even mentioned the new season’s biggest guest: New York City. Previous host cities have included Miami, Chicago, and San Francisco. All are respected restaurant cities and have their strengths, but none can compete with New York across the board.
It’s home city to all the judges and good portion not only of this year’s contestants but many from previous seasons, which means we can probably look forward to a lot of guest appearances.
Be sure to look for our “Top Chef” podcasts on Thursdays following the show. Links to it will be available on this blog.
Hafta try kafta
My chief food co-hort, Jesse Olivarez and I happened upon the annual Mediterranean Food Festival at St. Elijah’s Church on Saturday.
The event was a fundraiser for the church and included a car raffle, food market, dinner, lunch and dessert. Got myself involved with a chicken kafta sandwich. Typically, kafta is a ground meat dish. It’s derived from the Persian word Kufta, which means to beat or grind. But this was a nice Okie-friendly interpretation that included a full, grilled chicken breast with dressing, onions, black olives and feta. The tabouli was less reliant on bulgur than others I’ve had, instead using it as a complement to the parsley, mint, green onions and tomato. Finally, we had a baklava sundae. Yes, baklava ala mode and striped in chocolate and caramel. Yes, it was soooo good.
Dinner included cabbage rolls, kibbe, salata, pita bread, and hummus.
They also had a bake sale featuring an assortment of Lebanese entrees, breads, cookies, cakes, pies, cinnamon rolls and baklava.
As was everything. Look forward to dropping in again next year. But next time, I’m not leaving without recipes.
Wii-san!!
As a child of the Atari and Intellivision age, and never a favored child, my interest in video games waned sometime after I guided the Warren Moon-led Houston Oilers to Super Tecmo Bowl supremacy.
That said, my kids enjoy both Wii and Xbox 360. I have been known to dabble in a little Guitar Hero, though once I mastered Rancid’s “Salvation,” I’d gamed sufficiently.
Now, game-makers are barking up my tree with the imminent release of Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine for Nintendo Wii, which arrives in stores the first week of December, and DS.
Players square off in Kitchen Stadium and battle through a series of culinary challenges. Each victory advances players closer to a final showdown that will determine who will reign supreme as the next Iron Chef America.
You can take on Iron Chefs Mario Batali, Cat Cora and Masaharu Morimoto under the watchful eyes of “The Chairman” and Alton Brown. The absence of Bobby Flay means it’ll be tougher to sell the wife on this purchase. Maybe a “Throwdown” for Wii is in development.
So far, there is no game for the Japanese version of the show, which we can only hope changes. I can see it now, me versus Iron Chef Chen Kenichi in Battle Yeti Spleen!
Allez Cuisine!
