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Shiitake-Cashew Tacos

Posted by
on February 18, 2010 at 6:51 pm

Each month when I share a new taco recipe, you can be sure I will have a vegetarian version. That’s life with a vegetarian wife, which I’ve found rewarding on many levels.
The vegetarian challenge to a card-carrying carnivore is to produce a level experience with the dish. When I conceive a dish, flavor is the first consideration but texture is right behind it.
Texture is integral to the carnivore experience, though it’s often taken for granted. Most carnivores mistake the craving for texture as a craving for something salty.
Salt plays a role but breaking down a protein with ones teeth to earn the lucious release of natural juices is what it’s all about.
That’s why fungi and nuts are my favorite ingredients to build a vegetarian dish around.

For this, the earthy flavor and toothsome texture of shiitake mushroom matched with the chewy, sweetness of cashews were the foundation. Mirin, soy and sambal bind them together with the usual array of onions, garlic and green pepper. A little ginger in that pool draws completes the attempt to nod to Asian cuisine while maintaining it’s tacosity, which as we all know is key.

Shiitake-Cashew Tacos

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a wok until oil begins to stir.
  2. In a mortar and pestle, combine garlic, ginger and salt. Mash together into paste. You may also do this on a cutting board, using the back of a fork or a meat pounder with a flat face.
  3. Add mushrooms and stir fry about 2 minutes, until they’ve changed color. Might need to do this in batches.
  4. Remove mushrooms from heat and set aside. Wipe wok clean, heat remaining oil.
  5. Add onions, green peppers and stir fry one minute.
  6. Add ginger-garlic salt and toss another minute.
  7. Return mushrooms to wok with sambal and toss.
  8. Add soy sauce and toss for about 30 seconds.
  9. Add cashews and green onions, toss togetherfor 30 seconds and add mirin.
  10. When mix is well combined, remove from heat.
  11. Wrap tortillas in a water-soaked papertowels and microwave on high heat for 1 minute.
  12. Heat skillet and add enough peanut or vegetable oil to coat the bottom.
  13. Put two heaping spoonfuls of mixture in a tortilla and toast in the skillet.
  14. Repeat until you run out of filling, choose from these garnishes: carrot and daikon matchsticks, sliced jalapenos, watercress, diced avocado, radishes, hoisin crema and Sriracha sauce.
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This month’s tacos inspired by Asian Cuisine

Posted by
on February 17, 2010 at 12:03 pm

These chicken tacos are inspired by Asian cuisine.

I’ve been eating and talking Asian cuisine all month, thanks to the Lunar New Year. I’ve talked long and learned a ton from Max and Sindy Chow as well as Thai and Kathy Tien of Grand House. I’ve also been inspired by Fung’s Kitchen and Pho Lien Hoa to come up with these two tacos.
Ginger is added to the mix to give it that fresh, bright flavor so common in Asian foods. For the garnish, I went with the julienned daikon and carrots found in Vietnamese banh mi and some watercress. Tacos live and die with the sauces they’re paired with, so I’ve infused salsa verde with ginger, mixed Mexican crema with hoisin sauce, and when all else fails, go with Sriracha.

To give the tortillas a dumpling feel, I’ve steamed them then pan-fried them with a small amount of oil.

Check back tomorrow for a vegetarian taco with Asian inspiration.

Ginger Chicken Tacos

Ingredients

Directions

  1. If the chicken is thawed, put it in the freezer one hour so that it’s partially frozen before slicing it thin and then chopping it into bite-sized pieces. Then set aside in a bowl, adding the juice of one lemon and some zest and a tablespoon of the soy sauce. Let stand at least 30 minutes. Make the crema and salsa while chilling and marinating chicken.
  2. Heat a wok to medium high, then add sesame oil.
  3. When the oil is rippling, add chicken and toss till both sides are browned. You might need to do this in batches.
  4. Add ginger and garlic, tossing frequently.
  5. Add remaining soy sauce and stir fry until it’s mostly cooked off.
  6. Add mirin, salt and pepper. Toss one more minute then remove from heat.
  7. Soak 4 to 6 papertowels with water, wring lightly then wrap them around the tortillas. Put in microwave on high for 1 minute.
  8. Let cool, while you heat a skillet to medium high and add 3 tablespoons of peanut or vegetable oil.
  9. Place two heaping spoonfuls of chicken in the steamed tortilla, and pan fry on both sides until toasted. Repeat until you’ve run out of filling.

Serve with daikon, carrots, sliced jalapenos, radishes, salsa verde with ginger and hoisin crema.

Salsa Verde with Ginger

Directions

  1. In a pot of boiling water, add all ingredients except salt and green onions.
  2. Blanch for five minutes.
  3. Move ingredients plus salt and half cup of liquid into food processor and blend until smooth.
  4. Add onion tips and pulse 5 to 6 times, until consistency is how you want it.

Hoisin Crema

Mix thoroughly and serve.

Variation: If you can’t access Mexican crema or creme fraiche, substitute sour cream and 2 teaspoons of mirin.

Source: Dave Cathey

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Cupid Loves Coco Flow (and so do I)

Posted by
on February 12, 2010 at 4:18 pm

 

Last Valentine’s Day, Gene and Kim Leiterman’s Coco Flow on Western Ave. was duly emptied as it was every Feb. 15. Another success on their most important day of the year.

Fast forward a year and everything is changed.

Coco Flow is now in Bricktown where he says he feels “much safer.”

How is that? Not long after Valentine’s Day 2009, Coco Flow was robbed. Yes, robberies happen a lot. But this was an armed robbery in the building where Gene and Kim’s children were present, including an infant.

For a couple looking to live the Willy Wonka life, this is about as far from that goal as they could’ve been taken.
But here they are now in the Mieneke building, preparing for another onslaught of procrastinating men looking for, as Gene put it, anything Coco Flow is willing to sell.

“I could dip my shoe in chocolate and sell it on Sunday.”

To celebrate the new location, Coco Flow will be open Saturday and Sunday night with bistro tables and live music available in the common area adjacent to the store.

Welcome back, Gene and Kim, we missed you.

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Chinese Cuisine thriving and growing in Oklahoma City

Posted by
on February 10, 2010 at 3:39 am

Photo by John Clanton, THE OKLAHOMAN: Peking spare ribs from Chow's Chinese Restaurant.

The fact that two of the city’s best Chinese restaurants are in old pancake houses might be a red flag in most culinary circles. Those who would judge our thriving collection of Asian eateries poorly based on the ingenuity and efficiency of two of its leaders are fate’s fools as they would never know the profound privilege of eating at Chow’s Chinese Restaurant or Grand House. While along with Fortune Chinese, 12314 N. Rockwell, these are my go-to spots for wok-induced wonder, after spending some time with Max Chow my view of what authentic Chinese cuisine will never be the same.

First, know Oklahoma City’s Asian community is a prosperous and growing a mix of Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean and Thai peoples. Regardless the signifying culture depicted on the marquee of any local Asian restaurant, each of the aforementioned cultures play a role in the food that comes out of the kitchen. Purity is rare, but was there an eleventh commandment I didn’t hear about, proclaiming that cooks and chefs be jailed for caving in to influences outside their ancestry? If there was, then I don’t want to be a saint.

The Mid-Del area is home to a number of Korean restaurants. The Asian district north of Midtown is populated primarily by Vietnamese and banh mi and pho shops are strongly represented there and on the south side of Oklahoma City. Pho has even leaked into the suburbs, popping up from Norman to Bethany and in Edmond.

A handful of solid Japanese restaurants can be found, including Tokyo House, Sushi Neko, and Stillwater’s shabu shabu specialists at Tokyo Pot. Then there are fusion specialists like Saii Bistro and Sushi Bar that offer all things to all diners.

Photo by John Clanton, THE OKLAHOMAN: Chow's Chinese Restaurant opened in 1982 in an old A-frame International House of Pancakes building.

Chinese restaurants predate them all. However, the earliest worked hard to build an audience. To do that, traditions began in San Francisco and New York that placated Western tastes were represented on the menu. Not until the Vietnamese population took root did a handful of old-school Chinese restaurants decide to get out of the buffet business and consult their inner crispy duck. That said, Chow’s Chinese restaurant owner Max Chow admitted his restaurant, which switched from American-style Chinese cuisine to more authentic Chinese cuisine in the early 90s, doesn’t mirror exactly what would be found in his hometown of Hong Kong. Influences from the other Asian communities are clear on his menu and on those of his fellow Asian restaurateurs.

“The available ingredients are not the same,” he said. “There are things in Hong Kong that cannot be exported to the U.S.”

Max says his food is a communion between Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai traditions.

 His daughter Matty, who earned her Masters Degree in Hong Kong,  said during her time in China the dining experience is completely different than anything in the West.

“Everything there is government owned,” she said. “The sense of urgency to profit doesn’t exist.”

She said that lack of free-market-fueled ambition leads to long waiting times and leisurely service because their is no eagerness to turn over diners. That’s great if you’ve got a table, but not if you’re waiting for one. 

This kind of authenticity we can gladly do without.

After spending a number of hours with the Chow family and eating Max’s heartfelt offerings, I came away with the inclination that the authenticity Chow’s and others who strive for a truly Chinese experience like Dot Wo, Fung’s Kitchen and Grand House, has to do with tradition.

Max Chow is the most humble, generous and gracious chef I’ve come across. He has no discernible ego as a chef. Perhaps drawing from their communal upbringing, both Max and Sindy take enormous collective pride in what they do and its place within their community. Not many years ago, the Chows sold their restaurant. But when the couple heard grumblings that the quality of the food had suffered, they bought it back to right the ship. But there was at least one caveat.

“We used to be open for lunch,” Sindy explained. “And we were very busy all the time, so we hired a cook to help out in the kitchen.”

But Sindy said when Max wasn’t manning the wok, customers noticed a dip in the quality. With their nest emptied, Sindy said they opted to shut down lunch service because, “My husband only has two hands.” And she admitted they were both ready to spend at least a little time outside the kitchen.

When asked about his cooking style, Max is practically sheepish. He shrugs and talks about learning a simple style, an ancient style, which requires close attention to heat maintenance and fresh ingredients. When Sindy Chow talks about fresh ingredients, she’s serious. She doesn’t use the word fresh the way it’s used in marketing slogans or advertising jingles. If you order crab or lobster at Chow’s, it will be alive when you do. That’s why if you’re planning a visit to Chow’s and are thinking crab or lobster, you better call ahead.

Ba Luong, executive vice president of Super Cao Nguyen Market, told me he sees the Chow’s almost every day.

“They’re always in, checking out the produce, picking up live crab or lobster,” he laughed.

Max’s aim is simple: find the aroma of the ingredient and release it into the dish when it’s most capable of lending its flavor. He achieves that with high heat and a discerning eye. Spices are secondary.

“If the ingredients are not fresh, you will get very little flavor,” he said.

Sindy said, “We only buy the best ingredients because if we don’t, the food will not taste right.”

Authentic Chinese dining isn’t so much about specific dishes, it’s about connection. No matter how many times I asked Max to make a traditional chinese dish, he simply could not move forward without knowing my preferences. Spicy? Salty? Crispy? Beef? Chicken? Pork? Seafood? Dessert?

Chow’s is true family dining in the sense that a trip there, is as close as you’re going to get to inviting yourself over to somebody’s house and not only being welcomed in the door but asked what food will please you. It’s the best of a culture that doesn’t glorify the individual. Yes, the individual is consulted, but dinner is served by committee. Your flavor profile, fresh ingredients and a technique passed down over thousands of years to a gentle soul from Hong Kong who once dreamed of building audio equipment.

To proclaim one restaurant is better than another goes against what I’ve learned from Max, Sindy and Matty Chow. If you want a buffet, by all means find one and enjoy it. The good folks at August Moon, 2142 SW 74 St., do a great job as does Panda Garden in Norman, where I once witnessed Oklahoman sportswriter extraordinaire Berry Tramel eat 100 mushrooms before begining his lunch.

Chow’s, in fact, offers well-known American-style favorites like General Tso’s Chicken and Sweet and Sour Pork. Max said he would do his best to make a chicken-fry if that’s what a customer asked for. 

I’ve always felt music and food were similar art mediums, used subconsciously by people to mark time and solidify memories. After eating Max Chow’s food and listening to his family’s philosophy, I realized there’s an even stronger parallel: Just as there are songs, styles and musicians for every mood, so too is there food, chefs and restaurants.

While I might listen to The Clash more than I listen to The Kinks, they are both British rock bands who play song-driven rock with various cultural influences. Do I have to say I like one better than the other? No, I can love them both. Ray Davies has my left ear, Joe Strummer has the right. My brain is in between firing impulses down my spine that, when the mood is right, make the hair on my neck stand up. Because they can both have this effect, they are equal in the end. The happiness created in me connects us all.

Kind of equalizes us as human beings, which just feels a lot more like how this little thing called existence was intended.

Just as Ray Davies draws a song from soul when he asks, “Where have all the good times gone?” so too does Max Chow make me close my eyes, scrunch my toes and smile when I take a bite of his Ginger-Scallion Crispy Chicken. And just as Joe Strummer compels me to crank the volume when he asks, “How’d you get so rude and reckless? You been drinking brew for breakfast?” So too does my adrenalin race and energy jump when I take a bite of Shrimp-Stuffed Jalapeno or Salt and Pepper Shrimp from Grand House.

Authentic Chinese cuisine occurs when desire sparks imagination interpreted by technique. It’s impossible to say that exists in one place or in one dish better than any other because it’s subjective. And while it might begin with a simple understanding between one diner and one chef, the cuisine expands with each hungry person who pays a chef to cook. While that might sound a little chaotic, tradition and technique keep the whole thing in harmony. And why else would Max Chow have ever dreampt of building speakers if not to amplify harmony?

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Choc-a-lot

Posted by
on February 5, 2010 at 5:20 pm

When I was approached by Nicole Thomas to become a judge in the first-ever Best in Show competition for Chocolate Decadence, it was hard to conceal my enthusiasm. 

When I joined Louisa McCune-Elmore and Carol Smaglinski at the Hudson-Essex building for the annual Automobile Alley fundraiser, my enthusiasm was brimming like Gene Leiterman’s chocolate fountain at the CoCo Flow booth. However, that enthusiam flagged somewhere between samplings 15 and 20.  I was, however, able to, umm, gut it out. No pain, no gain…took one for the team…insert your favorite cliche, you get the picture.

The Best of Show was not too difficult. While the tortellini with white chocolate sauce from the Skirvin, the chocolate tortelonni and white chocolate zuppa from Trattoria il Centro and the lamb chop with balsamic-chocolate reduction from Mickey Mantle’s were all sensational, CoCo Flow was king. With the aforementioned fountain as a dipping bowl for accompanying kabobs of fresh fruit and cakes, Gene also had as fine a bread pudding as I’ve ever tasted and a collection of bite-sized chocolates so that his booth examined the full potential of chocolate and its decadent nature.

Other contenders included the twin bites from Paseo Grill, the ultra-clever cotton candy from Nonna’s and accompanying carnival atmosphere and the bacon, chocolate and pistachio bites from Deep Fork. Thanks also to the Whiskey A-Cocoa from Sean and Cathy Cummings and to Iguana Mexican Grill for making chocolate sippable. Also shouts to Red Primesteak for the chile-ancho sauce and to La Luna for bringing mole to the table and making it work.

The best part of the evening was reconnecting with Nicole, who is a friend from a previous life. She’s planning events now, and based on the success of this one, I suspect she’ll be behind a lot more really cool events to come.

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Don’t Pass on Empanadas For Your Super Bowl Soire

Posted by
on February 3, 2010 at 3:10 am

empanadas

Thanks to Spain for the pastry, thanks to Tejas for the filling. These can be baked or deep-fried. Baked might be the better choice for the buffet table. This will fit in well with the requisite watch-party guacamole and salsa.

Ingredients

DOUGH:

FILLING:

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, combine flour, shortening, butter, and salt.
  2. Mix lightly until the dough forms cherry-sized pieces.
  3. Stir in the water.
  4. Lightly and carefully knead until the dough forms a ball. Add a little more water if needed.
  5. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
  6. In a heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and saute until soft but not browned, 3-4 minutes.
  7. Add the tomatoes, guajillo and serrano chiles, cilantro, cumin, oregano and water.
  8. Cook the mixture down until the consistency of marinara sauce.
  9. Crumble the ground beef, mashing and stirring it to combine with the sauce. Increase the heat to high and cook, covered, until the meat has lost its pink color and the filling is moist but not liquid, about 12 minutes. The meat should be soft like meat loaf.
  10. Remove from heat, stir in the lime juice, and set aside to cool.
  11. Remove dough from refrigerator and let it return to room temperature, about 1 hour
  12. Pinch off about half the dough. Roll out, on a floured surface, to a thickness of 1/8 inch.
  13. Cut out 3-inch circles. Then, gather the scraps, add to the rest of the dough, and roll out another batch of circles. Repeat, with the rest of the scraps.
  14. Place a spoonful of filling in the center of each circle of pastry.
  15. Fold over the pastry and seal the edges, then crimp with a fork.
  16. Let the empanadas rest in the refrigerator 30 minutes or freeze immediately.

To Bake: Preheat oven to 400. Frozen empanadas don’t need thawing. Glaze with egg wash (1 egg and 2 tablespoons milk, well beaten) and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

To deep fry: Heat oil to 375 degrees and fry pastry until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes a side.

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Festival of the Arts Food Jury Selects 2010 Vendors

Posted by
on February 2, 2010 at 10:51 am
PHOTO BY JIM BECKEL, THE OKLAHOMAN: Ryan Jones, 6, works loose a couple of bottom teeth at last year's arts festival.

PHOTO BY JIM BECKEL, THE OKLAHOMAN: Ryan Jones, 6, works loose a couple of bottom teeth at last year's arts festival.

The Festival of the Arts Food Committee has selected the 28 food vendors in charge of your appetite during the Arts Council of Oklahoma City’s six-day community celebration of the arts April 20-25.

With up to 750,000 people expected to attend Festival of the Arts this spring, the committee has a tremendous responsibility of sampling and agreeing upon the menu. Committee members evaluate the food items based on taste, presentation, cost, portion size and previous sales, while keeping in mind the need for unique, diverse dining options.

In 2010, the International Food Row will feature old favorites like Indian Tacos, Craig and Carter’s Fish Tacos, and Bodacious Burritos. The signature dessert Strawberries Newport also returns but will introduce two new food items: chocolate covered strawberries and shaved ice with strawberry purée.

New this year, the committee selected several new vendors with original food items such as Sammy Pizza’s calzone and chocolate chip pizza, Deep Fork Grill’s prime rib slider and drunken fries, Café do Brasil’s chicken stroganoff and vegetarian rice and black beans, Helmut Strudel’s beef wellington and Bavarian strudel.

All food items are priced at $8 or less to keep meals affordable for families. In addition, each food vendor is paired with a local nonprofit agency, so each bite supports the arts in central Oklahoma.

Since 1967, the Arts Council of Oklahoma City’s annual Festival of the Arts has been the city’s guide to good taste and cure for any drought.  So without further ado, here are you food vendors for 2010:

Bella Crema Gelato

Bodacious Burritos

Brewer Entertainment

Café do Brasil

Coco Flow

Craig and Carter’s Famous Fish Tacos

Dippin Dots

Deep Fork Grill

Goode Kettle Korn

Gopuram – Taste of India

Harry Bear’s All American Grill and Bar

Helmut’s Strudel

I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt/Plaza Deli

Iguana Mexican Grill

Indian Taco

Interurban

Just Nuts

Maui Wowi

Nuts and More

Orient Express

PaPa’s Greek Foods

S&S Concessions

Sage Gourmet Café

Sammy’s Pizza

Silver Dollar Bakery

Sno-Biz Shave Ice

Strawberries Newport

Sweet Corn Express

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Super Cooking Class

Posted by
on February 1, 2010 at 5:24 pm

The Epicurean’s Pantry, 1333 N Santa Fe, is hosting a class Tuesday, featuring the Prairie Gypsies. The event is from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and will feature Super Bowl appetizers derived from beef, cheese, chicken, and pork, and in the form of dips, spreads. There will also be dessert ideas.
Cost is $40, call 471-5777 to reserve your space.