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Chicken Scaloppini with Herbaceous Orzo

Chicken Scaloppini with Herbaceous Orzo

Italian Heritage Month is about over, and I’ve got a couple more Italian recipes up the sleeve. This one is similar to Chicken Parmigiana, but a little easier to make in my opinion.
That said, it’s not quite as kid-friendly as capers and olives are little piquant for young palates. Luke and Kate both ate it, but preferred the parm. For me, this was superior and healthier by a longshot.

The Herbaceous Orzo is super simple and open to interpretation. Make it one time, and you’ll be hooked. It works well both warm or cold, and is a real find for people like me who get annoyed by the unwieldy nature of pastas like linguine, fettuncini and spaghettini.

As always, this dish isn’t complete without crusty Italian bread for sopping, and a nice bottle of pinot gris will balance this piquant dish. Sauvignon Blanc will do in a pinch.

Chicken Scaloppini

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cloves garlic or 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon green olives, sliced and drained (pimientos are ok)
• 1 tablespoon capers, drained
• 6-8 sundried tomatoes, julienned
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons pure olive oil

Directions

1.  Between two sheets of wax paper, pound the chicken flat and even, about a 1/2-inch thick.
2. Crush the garlic and mix with salt to make a paste. A mortar and pestle works great. Or you can use the flat side of a knife or meat tenderizer. The garlic should be the consistency of apple sauce.
3. Smear the garlic paste on both sides of the chicken. If using powder season the breasts evenly with the salt, garlic powder and pepper.
4. Heat oil in a wide, heavy pan at medium high heat. You might need to cook them in batches, which is fine.
5. Spread the flour on a bowl or dish with a lip and lightly dredge chicken, dusting off.
6. Fry chicken on both sides, 60 to 90 seconds.
7. Deglaze pan with white wine, stir loosened bits from bottom of the pan.
8. Add stock, mix briefly then stir in capers, olives and sun-dried tomatoes.
9. Reduce heat and simmer another 2 to 4 minutes.
10. Serve over Herbaceous Orzo

Herbaceous Orzo

• One cup orzo pasta
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon
• 4-6 green onions, sliced thin
• 2-4 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley leaves
• 3 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, julienned 
• Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions

1. Fill a medium-sized pot half way with water and add about a tablespoon of water then bring to a boil
2. Cook  7 to 8 minutes.
3. Add peas, and cook another 60 to 90 seconds.
4. Drain pasta and peas in a colander and rinse with cold water.
5. Transfer to a bowl and mix remaining ingredients thoroughly.

Source: Dave Cathey

Fate and Family

Cathy Cummings, owner/chef of Vito's Ristorante.

While fate is thick in Italian folklore and family is the background of Italian culture, both had a hand in the story you’re about to read. I assigned our intern Cara Bailey to do a story on Vito’s Ristorante last winter. I thought the place was the most under-rated Italian restaurant in town. So forward Cara went, got the story done, but we had trouble getting photos lined up at the time.

Then I assigned the story to summer intern Daniel Puma. Daniel is Italian but grew up in Tulsa and lives in Norman, so I thought he’d love the assignment. He did. He even shot his own photographs, and took Cara’s story and added a few more details. Alas, we never found a good moment to run the story during the summer, and patiently awaited its turn in publication purgatory.

In September, I determined the time had come. I spiffed up Daniel and Cara’s work then ventured to put the photos where page designers could use them. Turns out the photos had been deleted. The story slumped its nonexistent head and dragged itself back to it’s home on the shelf.

Then October arrived — Italian Heritage Month. I assigned a photograph and made it a point to be there when the photos were taken to talk with owner Cathy Cummings to see if any further details needed addition. The story in my possession depicted how family served as the foundation of Cathy’s restaurant.

I went by to attend the long-awaited photo shoot, and in talking with her, it became apparent her story of growing up in a family that survived by serving food to others was accurate but not so much unique as cultural. So much so, that I decided to write my own story. Sorry Cara and Daniel. Them’s the breaks. You know I appreciate you both.

The Italian community in Kansas City where Cathy was reared is apparent on every plate at and permeates the air at Vito’s, a simple, traditional Italian cafe. She carries more than 100 wines, all of which are Italian. Sauces are made from scratch and breads are baked in house. The only thing she doesn’t do from scratch is the pasta, which would be a logistical nightmare for someone who sees her job as no different than having folks to her home for dinner each night.

I’ve eaten at Vito’s a dozen times and have never left within 10 blocks of dissatisfied. Cathy makes her sugo from a recipe she learned as a child. That explains why it exudes such confidence for such a simple sauce. I could go through a loaf of bread sopping it up. Wait, maybe I did. The “Italian butter” that comes with the bread is hard to resist even after the loaf disappears. The chicken marsala is rich, succulent and soul-soothing.

Vito’s has been around six years now, and the time has come for it to join the ranks with local Italian favorites like Papa Dio’s, Trattoria il Centro, Victoria’s, and Caffe Pranzo.

Have you been to Vito’s? Let me know what you thought.

Shrimp Diavolo

 

Shrimp Diavolo

Seafood is common to Italian cuisine, which is no surprise considering its geographical relationship with the Mediterranean.

Cippollinis are small, flat onions. The flesh is more yellow than white and the flavor is sweet thanks to having more residual sugar than larger white and yellows but not as much as shallots. I found them at Crescent Market.

Be sure to use fresh shrimp. The frozen stuff will disappoint you. As always, serve with good, crusty bread. Pinot grigio pairs well.

Shrimp Diavolo

Ingredients

• 2 pounds large shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 8 cippollini onions, sliced and quartered
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 carton grape tomatoes, halved
• 3 tablespoons green olives with pimento, sliced
• 2 tablespoon capers
• 1/2 cup chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
• 3-4 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup pure olive oil
• 1 pound pasta, cooked al dente
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Cook pasta in salted boiling water according to directions
2. Heat a large wok or skillet and half the oil to medium heat
3. Saute the onions 1 minute.
4. Add the garlic and saute another minute.
5. Remove onions and garlic and set aside.
6. Heat remaining oil.
7. Add shrimp and stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes on each side until the shrimp turns orange and plump.
8. Add onions, garlic, tomatoes, olives, capers, parsley and red pepper flakes and toss briefly.
9. Drain pasta and add to shrimp, mix thoroughly.
10. Salt and pepper to taste.
11. Grate cheese directly onto each dish.

Meal type: dinner

Culinary tradition: Italian

Recipe by on.
Microformatting by hRecipe.

Nonny’s Italian Hot Pot

Potatoes on bottom, sausage on top with onions, mushroom and chicken in between. Serve with good, crusty bread.

It’s no secret that food and family are synoymous with Italian cuisine. I was lucky enough to experience this first-hand thanks in great part to Anne Ferlo. Anne died Oct. 17 at age of 85.
She was great-grandmother, or Nonny, to my children Luke and Kate. Mother and grandmother to close friends I used to call family and always will in my heart.

Guido and Anne Ferlo.

Above all, Anne was a kindred Epicurean spirit. She lived a long life and didn’t waste a chance to celebrate: holidays, birthdays, Fridays…you name it. She and her surviving husband Guido came to work at Tinker Air Force Base from Rome, New York. They brought with them the true Italian spirit: family first, work hard, take care of what’s yours, celebrate like tomorrow isn’t promised.
Guido, her husband of 63 years, still works for the Oklahoma Blood Institute and can still play any musical instrument you put in front of him – a ditch-digger’s heart with music in his soul. Anne was no different.

When it came to food, she took it seriously since it wasn’t so easy to come by when she was a child and didn’t take it for granted. She was a fantastic cook, introducing me to Italian pork roast, cannoli, harvest loaf, noodles Romanoff, macaroni salad, and the greatness of a simple salad with homemade vinaigrette, a loaf of good bread and a bottle of wine. A member of the Greatest Generation, she danced to Glenn Miller and the James brothers for the USO in a burst of champagne bubbles. When she met Guido in 1944, the pace didn’t slow as he was one of the boys in the band.

When they lost their Midwest City home to the May 3, 1999, tornado Anne and Guido — who’s called Guielo on his birth certificate thanks to a paperwork error – didn’t let it slow them down. They rebuilt their lives in Edmond and never looked back.

Nothing Anne did was done without a sense of pride. Her home was elegant and spotless, everything she and Guido have ever owned is treated like a luminary. Relationships are no different. Anne’s boundless good humor and generosity will never be forgotten. And neither will the beautiful foods she prepared. I will carry her Christmas Eve tradition of making shrimp to my grave. Harvest Loaf will be a part of my Christmastime repertoire as well. One of my favorite things she made was this simple chicken and sausage bake.

Here’s to you, Anne. Let’s meet at that big nightclub in the sky some day. The band will be swingin’ while sequins sparkle against the champagne fountain. Save me a pousse cafe, already!

Recipe: Nonny’s Italian Hot Pot

Summary: A family favorite from back East.

Ingredients

• 4 chicken quarters, skin on and unbroken
• 6 to 8 sweet Italian sausage links
• 6 potatoes, halved
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 lb whole white mushrooms
• 1 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons dry oregano
• 3 stalks rosemary, needles removed and stalks discarded
• 3-4 cloves of garlic smashed
• 1 teaspoon garlic 
• 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Mix the herbs, spices and garlic with the olive oil and set aside.
3. Place the potatoes in the bottom of a large baking pot or Dutch oven.
4. Use a brush to coat the potatoes with the oil mixture.
5. Layer the onions on top of the potatoes and the mushrooms on top of the onions. Coat with mixture.
6.  Layer the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables and coat.
7. Lay the sausage atop the chicken.
8. Sprinkle any remaining mixture over the entire pot.
9. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes.
10. Reduce heat to 375-degrees, flip the sausages and bake for another 45 minutes.

Culinary tradition: Italian

Recipe by on.
Microformatting by hRecipe.

Bijoux diners win whether they root for Sooner or Longhorns

Good restaurants are an extension of the owner’s personality. Great restaurants are a piece of the collective soul.
Scott and Gina Gottlich don’t have the ego to presume that they’re producing some of Dallas’ finest food without the focus and commitment of an entire staff.
Scott told me that when people enter Bijoux, he wants them to feel like they’re in his home.
Scott’s home is a commune. A sophisticated, beautiful, unpretentious commune that celebrates great food and wine.
The former OU wrestler and his sommelier wife have achieved in a short time what some chefs and restaurateurs will work a lifetime to achieve and still fall short.
That’s a result of putting God-given talent together with the skills one has accrued, not taking people for granted and dropping the attitude.
This is a place where you’ll spend anywhere between $60 to $150 per person and feel lucky to have had the opportunity to do so.
I had the good fortune to eat at the Gottlich commune with my 12-year-old son, Luke.
The restaurant serves meals in either 3, 5 or 9 courses. The amount of food you will ingest doesn’t increase greatly with the number of courses chosen.
We opted for the 3-course. Luke ordered Sweet Corn Agnolotti, and I Pan-Seared Prawns.

Sweet Corn Agnolotti from Bijoux in Dallas.

Luke’s agnolotti was filled with sweet corn and kissed with hazelnut butter and danced with Parmigiann-Reggiano and truffle shavings. My prawns were intwined over caramelized onions, roasted mushrooms and Spanish chorizo. My prawns were rich and spicy, reaching deep into my diaphragm to draw up a slow, smooth, “mmmmm.”

Pan-seared prawns.

But Luke’s pasta was inspired. He’d never eaten anything remotely close to it, and didn’t stop talking about it for a week, despite the fact that he didn’t know how to pronounce. While his young palate perhaps wasn’t prepared for the wonder of shaved truffle, mine was thankful for it. Hard to imagine that such small morsels are capable of a thermonuclear event of flavor.
We also sampled the Crispy Pork Belly. It came with frisee, tomato fondue and stone ground mustard, but it didn’t really matter. Luke took one bite, and the look on his face was all that was necessary.
“It kind of squirted when I bit into it,” he tried to explain. “And it was sooo good.”

Crispy pork belly, or Flavorstralia.

Yeah, we’re talking about a really big hunk of bacon-ness. If flavor were a planet, this dish was one its continents. Australia, maybe.
For the second course, I chose Long Island Duck Breast, Luke chose Roasted Filet of Beef.

Long Island duck breast.

The duck was beautifully prepared with carrot, fingerling potato and raspberries. Being breast, it was lean and lacked the punch of the pork belly, so it might’ve been a mistake on my part to choose it to follow. Luke’s filet stood up to the pork belly and, in the manor of the great Calvin Ebby LaLoosh, announced its presence with authority.

Roasted filet of beef.

The haricots verts were crisp and fresh, the truffled potato puree rich but not as much as the veal jus that surrounded the island.
For dessert, Luke chose the Glazed Chocolate Tart, and I the Ice Cream Sandwich. Luke wasn’t talkative, so I was concerned he was disappointed. When I asked him about it, he told me it was the best chocolate he’d ever tasted.

Glazed chocolate tart.

 And it’s no wonder, considering the thick almost gelatinous layer of chocolate that formed a shell over the tart and the surrounding red berry coulis, pistachio and chocolate ice cream that accompanied it.
While Luke’s dessert might’ve been more decadent and delicious than my dessert, there’s no arguing that mine was more ingenious. A playful take on a kid’s favorite, white chocolate macadamia cookies served as buns for the ice cream and was served with a tiny mug of “root beer float” with amaretto syrup. While I like Luke’s better, I’m thankful I got to see a genius’s interpretation.
If you’re in Dallas for the Red River Rivalry this weekend, you can’t lose by choosing Bijoux for dinner.

Bijoux's ice cream sandwich with root beer float.

The menu changes daily, so you won’t be able to match this meal. However, the interpretation you are in for might just exceed it. Having gotten to know Scott and Gina, I’d be surprised if it didn’t.

Chicken Parmigiana

Chicken Parmigiana is a great recipe for beginners to Italian cooking.

New to Italian cooking? This is the perfect dish to get you started: chicken, batter, sauce, cheese — everybody’s happy. Whether you call it sugo, ragu or marinara, simple Italian-style tomato sauce ensures moisture, panko gives it some crunch and two kinds of cheese make it that rich and creamy element that make it a mainstay on Italian menus worldwide.

Serve with steamed vegetables and either a tossed green salad or Caesar.

Don’t forget crusty Italian bread, sopping is a must.

Recipe: Chicken Parmigiana

Ingredients

• 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded flat.
• 1 to 1-1/2 cups tomato sauce
• 2 cups flour
• 4-6 six eggs, beaten
• 1 to 1-1/2 cups Italian-style panko crumbs. (I like Ian’s)
• 1 to 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 to 1 cups fresh grated parmesan cheese
• Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
• 3-4 tablespoons pure olive oil
• 1/2 cup Chopped Italian Parsley

Instructions

1. Pound the chicken flat between two sheets of wax paper.
2. Season both sides with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
4. Heat stove top griddle to medium high heat or two pans on separate burners. Heat the oil.
5. Dredge the chicken in flour and shake any excess loose.
6. Dip the chicken in beaten eggs and shake away excess.
7. Press the chicken into the panko and shake off excess.
8. Fry each breast 2 to 3 minutes on each sides until a golden crust is achieved.
9. Carefully transfer the chicken to an oven pan, coat with tomato sauce, top with cheeses.
10. Bake 7 to 8 minutes.
11. Serve over your favorite pasta, sprinkle with parsley.

Meal type: dinner

Culinary tradition: Italian

Microformatting by hRecipe.

Caffe Pranzo: Reunited and it tastes so good

A restaurant’s ability to stay in one’s eating rotation is a high-wire act — One careful step at a time, knowing each might be the last.
Before Monday, it had probably been three years since I’d been to Caffe Pranzo. After lunch, I wanted to kick myself in a place that’s anatomically impossible to reach for those three years lost.
It was never about the food or the service. The simple fact was three years ago I was working a job that didn’t afford me the luxury of a casual lunch. I had one lunch that went a little long, then each time that followed when it was suggested I only remembered that one long lunch and dismissed it. That doesn’t excuse me for not showing up at dinner.
This is a great little place to eat. Rick Gratch has owned it for 12 of the 14 years its been open, taking over when it’s predecessor Gagliardi’s closed.

The specialty is no-nonsense Italian food made from fresh ingredients and served with a higher level of precision than the majority of Italian eateries around the city.

On Monday, Lori and I started with Fried Calamari to be followed by a portobello sandwich for her and an Insalate Pesce for me.

All meals at Pranzo, though, begin with house bread and their take on vinegar and oil. Rather than pour you a 3 to 1 portion of balsamic and olive oil on a dish, they mix their dressing ahead and include sweet peppers and assorted herbs and spices. Whatever the assortment is, it’s working.

When the calamari arrived, our server, Joe whose friendliness and knowledge of the menu and the restaurant was only exceeded in intensity by the gray of his ponytail, said under his breath that we were about to eat the best version of this popular appetizer in the city. I’m not ready to make that proclamation, but I would certainly be happy to serve as judge in a competition on the matter. And I wouldn’t bet against the calamari we had, which was served with both marinara and acciughe sauce, that’s anchovies but don’t fear it. The influence is subtle and the result is a perky, piquant sauce that lights up the palate. The marinara is a welcomed balance. That said, the hand-breaded calamari worked just fine with neither condiment. I could’ve eaten it all day, and almost did.

As the calamari gradually disappeared, Lori and I discussed our past experiences with the restaurant and agreed that it was tragic that neither of us had been in so long. We agreed quiet, classy stops like Pranzo aren’t to be forgotten but lauded for their effort to keep flavor first and leave the hawking to those who aspire to be Colonel Sanders to an unborn generation. Nothing wrong with ambition or goals, but sometimes those things get in the way of the food. Not always, sometimes. Caffe Pranzo is an unpretentious attempt to connect with the community through pasta, pizza and wine.

It’s working.

Lori called her portobello sandwich the best she’d ever had. Ever. As I sat down to blog on our lunch, she reminded me that I needed to mention that. She told Joe the same thing, saying that it was a nice change to be able to taste the mushroom and not some heavy-handed marinade that masked the fungi-goodness but made the bread a soggy mess.

My Insalate Pesce included grilled shrimp and scallops over chilled linguni and mixed greens with  house dressing. It was the kind of lunch that reminded me how much I really do love entree salads. I used to be insane for the spicy lemon chicken salad at Pepperoni Grill. The shrimp was grilled and tasty, the pasta perfect and the greens fresh and leafy. The dressing made it all come together. The only misstep was the scallops, which were the pencil-eraser-sized variety. I initially thought they were corn nuts, and frankly I would’ve rather them been corn nuts. They were dry, bland and didn’t add any interesting texture. The scallops mediocrity, though, would not preclude me from making the same order again.

Bottom line: Caffe Pranzo is back in the rotation, my apologies for letting it fall out.

Have you been to Caffe Pranzo? Let me know what you thought.

Tokyo Pot

Tokyo Pot in Stillwater serves shabu-shabu style.

Dean Chen and David Tjie, owners of Tokyo Pot in Stillwater, might not have great location or serve expertly cooked food, but there’s practically nowhere in the state that I’d rather eat. You could go the Melting Pot in Bricktown for a similar experience but you’ll pay three times the price, have half the fun and pay for parking. That’s no knock on the Melting Pot, it’s just an example of what a terrific time I had at Tokyo Pot.

Dean Chen, left, and David Tjie are co-owners of Tokyo Pot in Stillwater. The two Indonesian friends met in California.

The state’s only shabu-shabu restaurant is in Stillwater, and not even in the fashionable part. South of State Highway 51 in an area with potential but little current street traffic, they serve food that isn’t even cooked. Some say it’s a smart restaurateur who charges you to cook you own food, but David and Dean do plenty to earn your business.

They’re serving culture, history, and a little piece of themselves — dunked and swished in choice of two broths, 1. sweet like sukiyaki, the other with a little more heat. As dedicated as they are to what they do, it would be no surprise to find a pound of their own flesh among the wafer-thin meat slices that eventually arrive at the table. This is the food of their youth, and they not only serve it with pride but share it with a panache that I haven’t seen in the Oklahoma foodscape.

Shabu-shabu isn’t about precision, it’s about fun. This style has been around for 1,000 years because it’s easy and does what food does best — it brings people together. It’s impossible to sit through a meal at Tokyo Pot in silence. If you’re looking for a quiet meal in a dark corner, by all means go elsewhere. If you want to learn something about a different culture, share laughs with friends and loved ones and make at least two new friends, this is your place.

Rib-eye fresh out of the pot, dunked in ponzu sauce, what Dean calls quality control, and into the rice pot. More please.

Chef Kurt Fleischfresser, the Big Kahuna of fine dining in Oklahoma, knows a thing or two about eating out. He told me this is one of a handful of places that he doesn’t even open the menu.

“I just say, ‘Dean, take care of me.”

Take care of you he will. Dean has charisma, energy and enthusiasm for sharing a taste of his culture. Meanwhile, David directs traffic in the kitchen. He makes sure the broths come out as advertised, the meats sufficiently thin and the vegetables and mushrooms good and fresh.

Rib-eye, pork, chicken and lamb are all available, wafer thin, for some shabu-shabu treatment.

Prices range from $9.95 for vegetarian platter to $18.95 for the seafood combo, including shrimp and scallops. The rib-eye is $15.95.

David told me he almost opened Tokyo Pot in Edmond two years ago, but decided to play it safe and stay in Stillwater, where he’d been working for a number of years. The good news is, he is looking to expand. He’d like to open in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa. While that is potentially good news, I can’t imagine any new locations capturing the magic that Dean and David conjure together. Dean is fire, David is ice and shabu-shabu is the stage. But beware, this show demands audience participation whether it be donning a Samurai outfit or cooking your own food. But after a couple sake bombs, you’ll not be competing with Dean for the lead in this six-nights-a-week act. After you eat, you’ll be checking your calendar to figure out when you can get an encore.

Have you been to Tokyo Pot? Let me know what you thought.

Indian Tacos

 

Just like they make at the State Fair.

If the high price of Dan’s Original Indian Taco stand has you down, never fear the Food Dude is here. The fry bread is surprisingly simple to make and doesn’t take a lot of time. Typical Indian tacos are topped with ground beef, pinto beans, lettuce, tomato and cheese. I like onions on mine. Perhaps some diced fresh jalapenos or serranos. Maybe some sliced black olives, if you like. Ultimately, it’s your call.

These are good and significantly cheaper than the State Fair and much easier to contain in the privacy of your own home.

Recipe: Indian Tacos

Summary: This Fair Favorite can be made easily at home.

Ingredients

TOPPING

 2 lbs. ground beef

2 tomatoes

 1/2 white onion diced

 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil

 1-2 fresh serrano chiles

 2-3 cloves garlic

 1 tablespoon salt

 1 teaspoon black pepper

 juice of 1/2 a lime

 1/2 cup chicken broth

 1 Can Ranch Style Beans

 Grated cheese

Shredded lettuce

 Chopped tomatoes

Chopped onions

 FRY BREAD

4 cups all-purpose flour

 2 tablespoons powdered milk

 1 tablespoon baking powder

 1 teaspoon salt

 1 1/2 cups warm water

Vegetable oil

Instructions

1. In a heated skillet, brown meat.
2.  While meat is browning, put tomatoes, garlic, serranos, salt and lime juice in a food processor and pulse 4 to five times.
3. Drain meat in a colander.
4.  Heat skillet on medium and add oil.
5.  Saute onions for 2-3 minutes then add meat, broth, tomato mixture, salt and pepper. Simmer 15-20 until moisture is mostly cooked out.
6. For the bread, mix all ingredients.
7. Pinch into small balls of dough. Pat back and forth in hands into small, flat (about 1/4-inch thick) rounds.
8. In skillet, heat about 2 inches of oil to 350 degrees.
9. Fry dough to golden brown, turn and fry other side.
10. Drain on absorbent paper.
11. In center of each taco, put 2 tablespoons cooked pinto beans, top with meat sauce, shredded lettuce, onions and chopped tomatoes. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Serve hot with salsa. Guacamole and sour cream are optional.

Source: Dave Cathey

Microformatting by hRecipe.

105degrees: Cool food, hot spot

Entrees at 105degrees Cafe show refinement, artistry and creativity.

Fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice and the Curious George.

Spicy Vegetable Sushi with avocado, cucumber and sesame.

Honestly, she was so happy with this expertly crafted combination of avocado, cucumber and sesame with a dollop of homemade ancho aioli, that we could’ve walked away happy. I had only one bite as I didn’t want to slow down what was clearly a love affair in progress.

Meanwhile, I was sipping the spicy Bahian-style soup. This malagueta-chile influeneced puree of Heirloom tomatoes and coconut milk provided the heat in this cool soup. Rather than reel off a barage of power verbs and superfluous adjectives, I’ll tell you the square bowl made it a little difficult for my round spoon to retrieve the last few droplets, even when I tipped it. More please.

Spicy Bahian-style soup.

Heirloom Tomato lasagna.

Blood orange cheesecake.

Feeling the full force of our misconception of the gullet-filling potential of veganism, we fought through like champions and took down a slice of blood-orange cheesecake. The primary agent at work in this seamless interpretation was young coconut meat. What a triumph of creativity and flavor.

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