Food Truck Shitake Shrimp Tacos

When you add shitake mushrooms to a taco with some shrimp, I'm not sure if it becomes Asian or is still Mexican, or if it's just really food truck fusion!  Except I don't have my own food truck.  We picked up some tacos from the Homegrown food truck last Monday during Gianna's soccer practice, and we were super impressed.  I had the ahi tuna taco with wasabi slaw.  Gianna had Asian pork taco with apple slaw.  We should have ordered about 4 of each!  They were so tasty, and the tortillas were super tender.

I found the Homegrown food truck parked at Fellowship by the soccer fields on Mondays and Tuesdays at around 5:00.  You can also find them with the other food trucks at South University everyday except Thursday.  I know because I went down there with some girlfriends from work, and they weren't there.  Anyway, they inspired me to make some good food truck tacos!

Fresh shitake mushrooms can be found at The Fresh Market or Sam's Oriental, speaking of South University.  Sam's Oriental also carries dried shitake mushrooms that you can reconstitute in water just before cooking.  The advantage is the long shelf life.  If I ever moved to a desolate place with no Fresh Market, I suppose I would buy things like dried shitake mushrooms for my pantry.  Or....I could open my own!!  Hmmmm....

If you are using fresh shitakes, clean them, discard the stems, and slice.  These mushrooms have an unmistakable distinct flavor and scrumptious texture.  How can anyone not love them?!  (Jereme)

My foodie friend Lyndae introduced me to this tasty and easy way of roasting shrimp.  Just toss shrimp with some oil and any of your favorite spices (garlic, salt & pepper, rosemary, whatever!) and cook for 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  This is probably standard for a pound of any size shrimp, since I 've done this with all different sizes.  Lyndae once told me she had 9 different salts in her pantry.  I still only have 2 kinds of salt, but I'm up to about 9 different flavored oils I think.

To heat up my white corn tortilla, I spray each side with a small amount of oil.  Then I throw it directly onto my stove top grate on medium heat.  I have no precise time or heat setting here.  Sometimes I turn it up , sometimes down, I just flip until it looks soft and pliable.

Then it's time to assemble.  You can use any kind of cheese and you can make any kind of salsa.  I just use what I have in the fridge.  Here I have Fontina cheese freshly grated on the biggest grater size on the box grater.  Also I had some yellow heirloom tomates with jalapenos, red onions, and lime juice.  Do they grow heirloom tomatoes in states with colder winters I wonder?

Tacos are fun.  If you have to put up with anything not fun, maybe have a taco.  I may have seen too many episodes of iCarly with my daughters!

Ingredients:

•  1 Pound of Wild American shrimp, peeled and deveined
•  Seasoning for shrimp:  garlic powder, sesame oil, tamari, and lemon juice recommended
•  Peanut or any other oil
•  Handful of shitake mushrooms, cleaned, stems discarded, and sliced
•  1 Package of white corn tortillas
•  Shredded or freshly grated cheese, like Fontina
•  Salsa ingredients:  tomatoes, seeded and diced jalapeno, lime juice, red onion

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Season the shrimp with your choice or recommended seasonings.  Toss in oil.  Cook in an oven proof pan uncovered for 10 minutes.
2. Toss the sliced shitakes in a small amount of oil with a sprinkling of kosher salt and some freshly ground black pepper.  Cook alongside the shrimp in separate ovenware.
3. Toss ingredients together to make salsa and season to taste.  Grate cheese.
4. Prepare the tortillas over the heated stove top.  Assemble and enjoy!



Scallop Fettucine with Mushrooms, Spinach, & Roasted Garlic

Last week was Spring Break for my two daughters, so I took some time off from work, blogging, and responsibilities in general.  Oh, how nice it was!!  We went home to see my parents in Nashville, Arkansas, where I grew up.  Gianna, my 8 year old, has the maturity of a 30 year old it sometimes seems.  An old soul for sure.  She collaborated with my dad to write the account of our escape from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon while I made dinner.  Since I just got home from parent teacher conferences with the girls' teachers, I have to say that I am so proud of the education they've received throughout the years at Miss Selma's and now at Baker Elementary.  As one mother put it today, if we could stay at Baker all through high school, we certainly would!   

This dish starts with searing the sea scallops over medium high heat on a nonstick pan.  My mom has got a really good nonstick Calphalon pan.

In another step, dry white wine is added.  You can also always add as much butter as you'd like as well!  Turn up the heat to cook off the alcohol.  Then reduce.  I know I said before that I was only cooking with shirataki noodles, but my parents had the old fashioned dry pasta variety.  You cook with what you have!

Ingredients:

• Large Sea Scallops, Diver if you can get them. 
• 1 package of mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
• 1 half stick of butter
• 3 sliced green onions
• 1 half bag of baby spinach
• 2 heads of garlic
• 1 half package of fettucine pasta
• Olive oil
• 1 half cup of white wine or chicken stock
• Juice of one lemon

Directions:

1. To make the roasted garlic, peel away the outer skin leaving a thin layer.  Barely cut off the top of the garlic.  Tear off a piece of aluminum foil.  Place the garlic heads on top, drizzle with olive oil, and close up the aluminum foil.  Cook in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.
2. Cook the pasta per package instructions.  Drain, then pour into a bowl.  Drizzle with a little olive oil and toss to mix.
3. Melt half of the butter in a nonstick pan with a drizzle of olive oil.  When hot, add the scallops.  Cook about 4 minutes per side or until the top and bottom are nicely browned.  Then remove scallops from the pan and add to the pasta.
4. To the pan, add more butter with the mushrooms and lemon juice.  Add the green onions and toss to cook.  Add the white wine.  Turn up the heat for one minute to let the alcohol cook off.
5. Add more butter if you want more sauce, until it is the consistency that you like.  Add the spinach in the end.  It doesn't take long to wilt.  Then add the pasta and scallops back in.
6. The roasted garlic is easy to remove once it's cooled.  You can squeeze it out or you can peel away the skin.  Add to the pan, and you're done!

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Shirataki Noodle Soup with Duck Breast

I recently saw one of those Food Network episodes of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" which looked like it was highlighting restaurants in New Orleans.  Emeril Lagasse was talking about a Vietnamese restaurant which served the best Pho Ga, which is a chicken noodle soup which is like the sister soup to the most traditional soup of Vietnam, Pho Bo.  Also known as beef noodle soup.  I loved hearing Emeril talking about how the soup just does something to you - it makes you feel good inside with all of its great flavors.  That show made me want to make some pho as soon as I could.

I love a great shrortcut for making pho because you can always add more flavor to a pretty good basic broth.  This beef pho broth has the flavors of the homemade pho that my mom makes.  Mom uses oxtail or beef shank to flavor her broth with fresh star anise, cinnamon, and ginger.  The broth simmers on low as the spices all release their flavor into the liquid.

But why settle for such simple poultry?  My favorite is Maple Leaf Farms White Pekin duck breast.  In a flavor test with my neighbors, I put up some D'Artagnan Fresh Magret against my favorite.  It was a 50/50 split.  I was so happy to find that Boulevard Bread Company on Kavanaugh was carrying the Maple Leaf Farms duck again!  They seemed to have been on a break there for a while.  Now if they would start carrying Napa Valley Shanghai marinade again, I would certainly be a regular there again!

I  made my own marinade for the duck with hoisin sauce, the juice of an entire meyer lemon, garlic, and fish sauce.  Fish sauce makes everything bolder and better.  There's also a balance of acid, sweet, and salt with the lemon, hoisin, and fish sauce.

Score the fat of the duck to help it melt away better, and to get the skin crisp.  Don't cut through the skin.  You can do a diamond pattern if you want.  One package of the Maple Leaf Farms duck contained 4 breasts.

After I cooked the duck breast to a perfect medium rare, I got about 10 slices out of each breast.  I removed the fat.  I know some people are really into duck fat.  I'm not into any fat.  I mean I am into good oils that are full of flavor.  I probably have 9 different oils in my pantry.  But I try to use as little as possible.  I'm currently researching if it's possible to recycle my oils after I've cooked with them.  If anyone does this, please email me!

This soup is usually made with fresh or dried rice noodles which come in angel hair or fettucine, but I used fettucine shirataki because I'm only cooking with shirataki noodles these days.  You can find them at Whole Foods or The Fresh Market in the refirgerator section, usually around the tofu.  They're made of tofu.  Healthy, lowfat, and nutritious.  If you're going to eat something, why not choose food that has healthy benefits for your body.  This dish is full of flavor with the added fresh herbs.  I added fresh mint, cilantro, and onions sprinkled with meyer lemon.  I have a whole bag of meyer lemons.  If you like spicy pho, add some red chili peppers.  Mom likes hers with bean sprouts! 

You can also add additional hoisin and chili garlic or sriracha if you'd like.  I read that Gwyneth Paltrow makes her own sriracha in her cookbook because a friend told her that it's full of chemicals.  I checked the label, and I did see two ingredients that seemed unfamiliar.  I may ask my mom to make me some!  And finally, for the duck pho, I added about a teaspoon of fish sauce straight from the bottle.  I add that to everything.

Ingredients:

• 1 Carton Pacific Beef Pho Broth
• 1 Package Maple Leaf Farms duck breast
• 1 8 oz. Package Shirataki Noodles
• Marinade ingredients for duck:
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• Juice of 1 meyer lemon
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• Herbs for flavor/garnish:
• Fresh cilantro
• Fresh mint
• Red or white onion
• Chili pepper
• Thai Basil

Directions:

1. Score the duck breasts, add to a 1 quart Ziploc bag, and add marinade ingredients.  Squish the bag and move the breasts around to evenly distribute the marinade ingredients.  Refrigerate overnight.
2. Remove the duck breast from the refrigerator for about 20 minutes prior to cooking.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
3. In the meantime, pour the pho broth into a medium saucepan.  I actually use my medium enameled cast iron round Dutch oven for everything.  Heat it over medium, and let it simmer lightly.
4. Remove the shirataki noodles from the package, rinse thoroughly, and drain well in a collander.
5. Heat a grill pan over medium high heat and add the duck breasts fat side down.  I saw Rachael Ray do this.  If you put the breasts in before the pan gets hot, there's less spattering!
6. Once the pan gets hot, time the breasts in the pan for 6 minutes.  Check the fat.  If it looks good and browned, flip it.  Cook for another 2 minutes.
7. Line a pan with foil.  Remove the duck breasts to the pan, cook for 8 minutes, then remove from the oven.  Let rest for 10 minutes so that the juices all redistribute and they don't leak all over the cutting board when you cut them.
8. Put half the noodles into each bowl.  Add the sliced meat of one duck breast, and add the hot broth.  Season if needed with fish sauce, hoisin, or chili garlic sauce.  Add your herbs, enjoy your big bowl of healthy comfort soup, and forget all your worries!

Currently Maple Leaf Farms has a contest for an original duck recipe, but you have to be a professional chef or culinary student to enter.  Will someone enter my recipe and split the earnings with me?  :)  I also make some great duck spring rolls!

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Creole Cod in Parchment

I recently found some parchment bags at the store, so I decided to cook something with one.  My favorite affordable fish is Pacific Cod, and I was craving it with some creole or cajun seasoning.  Since I love colorful food, I picked up one of those pre-packaged pre-sliced trio of bell peppers in red, gold, and green.

Arkansas is a landlocked state, so my best bet for good but easy to find cod was at Target.  If my budget allowed for Pacific Halibut, I would probably choose it from the counters that have it flown in fresh.  But Target has Archer Farms Alaskan Cod in the freezer section which is an MSC certified sustainable seafood.  Yes, what you choose to eat affects the world you live in.  I always choose wild - caught Alaskan or Pacific fish.  Not all farmed fisheries are held to the standards of the chefs that I've been following, and the Atlantic is currently overfished.  Wow, when did I turn into such a granola?    

Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees, then dice the bells.  Trim off the ends of the okra, then throw them into the bag.  Spray them with some canola spray.  If you have the roasted garlic grape seed oil, use it.  Even better!

Place your cod filets on top of the okra, spray with oil, then top with some creole seasoning.  I use Tony Chachere's Lite. 

Next, throw in your diced bells.  Spray a little more oil on them.  Then close up the bag.  Cook for 15 minutes or until the filets are done.  All ovens are different.  They should look like the "after" pictures on this post.

Close up the end of your parchment bag and cook.  Then comes the fun part.  After the fish is done, tear that parchment apart as if you're opening up a present.  We don't get enough presents do we?

And now, we have the "after" pictures.  How easy is this to clean up?  Also, some people are weird about aluminum....they may have rubbed off on me a little.  I don't want to get Alzheimers!

Alternatively, this could be made with a banana leaf.  I got this one from the frozen section at Saigon Market on Geyer Springs.  You just turn on your stove and hold it over the heat to make it shiny and pliable.  It makes a pretty presentation, I think!

Ingredients:

• Cod filets (16 oz. total)
• Red, green, and gold bell peppers
• Okra
• Spray oil
• Parchment paper or bag

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Dice the bell pepper slices.  Trim off the ends of the okra.
3. Place okra inside parchment bag.  Spray or drizzle lightly with oil.
4. Top okra with cod filets.  Spray lightly with oil.
5. Season with creole seasoning and spray with oil.
6. Top with bell peppers.  Seal any opening, then cook for 15 minutes.

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Zaytinya - Washington, D.C.

I recently went on a spur of the moment trip to Washington, D.C. where I was treated to an overnight stay.  I asked the front desk if there were any good Mediterranean restaurants near the Courtyard Marriott where I stayed, within walking distance of the Smithsonian and Ford's Theatre.  Everybody agreed that Zaytinya was an excellent option.  I looked it up.  The chef Jose Andres was named "Outstanding Chef" by the James Beard Foundation.  That's usually indicative of a pretty good restaurant.  (By some standards...) 

This is the cover of the menu.  I love his ambition! 

 My server explained the concept.  It's recommended to order 2 or 3 small dishes.  The menu was divided into multiple sections.  Among them were spreads, soup and salad, seafood and other meats.  Zaytinya serves Turkish, Greek, and Lebanese cuisine.  I started with the sea scallops with a yogurt - dill sauce.  I love restaurants with bright sunlight shining in - they help my photos look pretty decent!

I had to ask what kind of bread this was.  I've never seen pita like this before.  It was accompanied by a pomegranate molasses olive oil dipping mixture.  So delicious!  I tried to take the photos pretty quickly, then stowed my camera away.  Do people think I'm weird for taking pictures of my food?   

Next, I had the Lamb Kleftico.  It's spit - roasted lamb wrapped in house - made phyllo, feta, and dill yogurt.  Delish!!  And the presentation was gorgeous!

I almost always order Escargot when I see it on the menu at French restaurants, so when I saw Snail Kibbeh on the Zaytinya menu, I took them up on their offer.  They're crispy potato crusted snails served with herbed ladolemono heirloom lettuces.  And that was enough to fill me up! 

I loved the restaurant.  It was big and open with huge windows that let you watch the people outside living the good urban life.  I'm ready to go back!

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Chicken Cabbage Salad with Mint and Cilantro

This is a refreshing Vietnamese dish that is full of flavor.  I grew up eating lots of it - prepared by my mom.  When I make it for myself, it reminds me of where I came from.  My oldest brother Huy reminded me a few times over the years to just remember where you came from.  We may find a little success, travel to some cool places, and experience things we may never have even imagined.  We may meet some fascinating people, and we may see some amazing places.  But at the end of the day, who will be there?  Friends may come and go, even the ones you thought you'd never see go.  But hopefully, you'll always have family!    (And a few friends who really know you.)  This dish reminds me of great times back home...

Once you cut the cabbage half into 4 wedges, you can then slice each wedge.  Since you only need half of a cabbage, you can use the rest in soup or for corned beef in anticipation of St. Patricks Day!

Get a bowl started with the chicken, cilantro, and mint.  Top with the cabbage, then the rest of the ingredients.  Mix everything up, then let sit for a couple of hours in the fridge to meld the flavors together. 

Ingredients:

• One half head of cabbage
• Handful of cilantro
• Handful of fresh mint
• Half of a red onion
• 4 chicken thighs
• 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook the chicken by bringing a large stock pot of water up to a boil, add the chicken, then cover with a lid and simmer on low for 30 minutes.  Or you can put the chicken into a slow cooker for 4 hours on low with a cup of water.
2. Remove chicken and let cool.  Shred with two forks, removing fat and bones.
3. Place the chicken into a large bowl.
4. Add snipped pieces of mint and cilantro.  Cut up the cabbage, then add the rest of the ingredients.  Mix and cover, let it sit in the refrigerator 30 minutes or more, then serve.

To make the chili garlic lime dipping sauce you need:

•  1/4 cup Fish Sauce
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 Thai Chili Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 3 Cloves Garlic
• 1/2 Lime

Directions:

Mince the garlic and chili pepper together, scrape into a bowl, and add the fish sauce. Add the water next, then stir the sugar in until it dissolves. Squeeze in half a lime, and mix slowly. If you like extra spice, add some chili garlic sauce or extra chili pepper.

This sauce enhances any Vietnamese dish!  I started using Red Boat fish sauce because it is extra virgin from the first press, all natural, and it doesn't have added preservatives or MSG.  I bought 4 bottles online, and I've loved it in every Vietnamese dish that I've prepared since then!

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Cubetti Prosciutto Salad

Today I'm back to talking about food from our red kitchen, which is what I normally do here.  Gianna's on a salad kick.  She's already gone through a whole head of green leaf lettuce in three days.  So I bought her some butter lettuce.  Sometimes it's called bibb lettuce on restaurant menus. 

  The root is still attached.  These lettuce leaves are lusciously soft.

I got some hydroponically grown butter lettuce from Kroger.

Later in the week, Gianna said she didn't mind if I put grape tomatoes into her salad.  Usually I get home with a package of grape tomatoes, I rinse them, then leave them on the kitchen bar in a bowl, and they disappear eventually.  I suspect the same would happen if I left a bowl of chocolates there! 

The lycopene that you get in tomatoes is a powerful antioxidant.  Gianna won't eat regular sliced tomatoes, tomatoes from a can, or sundried tomatoes.  But she likes these.  Also cucumber.  She loves cucumber.  Add some shredded artisan cheese, and you have a gourmet salad.  The cubetti prosciutto take the place of boring old bacon bits. 

I found this dressing in the refrigerated section of Kroger.  There are only three lines of ingredients, and they're all recognizable words that I don't have to question.  Gianna says she is hooked on it, and she craves it!  It's the best balsamic dressing we've found.  I don't make my own.

I love that girl....she makes life easy for me, when it comes to making her meals.

Ingredients:

• Butter lettuce leaves, torn into bite sized pieces
• Naturally dry aged prosciutto cubetti - from Kroger Marketplace
• Fontina or Asiago cheese, freshly shredded
• Grape tomatoes
• Cucumber sliced into half moons
• Marzetti Simply Dressed Balsamic

Directions:

Mix all ingredients into a bowl and stir gently to spread the dressing. 

The 2 tbsp serving of dressing has 90 calories and .5g of saturated fat.  See, stick to real, all natural ingredients and you don't have to worry about your salad dressing making your salad fattening!

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Diamond Chef Arkansas Preliminary Part 2

So Tom Brannon from our local CBS station was the emcee - here he is interviewing Chef Malik after her win. 

As the chefs cooked, the judges watched and jotted down notes.  Two of the judges were Chef Paul Novicky, owner of my former favorite restaurant Nu, now closed.  Chef Novicky now provides whole foods to students at The Anthony School, which I think is an outstanding program!  To Chef Novicky's left is his fellow judge - Peabody Chef Andre Poirot.

After the chefs finished cooking their dishes, the judges returned to their table to taste and deliberate.  Here sits Paul Bash, who brought about some of the best restaurants Little Rock ever had to offer, including Alouettes, where I worked briefly.  Presenting Dover Sole at tableside was not a task that I mastered well.  I was supposed to debone the fish in a few quick steps, then lift the entire skeleton out.  I always had to ask for assistance with this.  Especially if it's a Rockefeller you're serving, you'd rather have help than to leave bones in their fish!

Speaking of sole, it was one of the mystery ingredients in the basket in heat two!  Along with Doritos!  Here it looked like Chef Donnie Ferneau added some pistachios to his crumbled Doritos.  At least that's what Chef Novicky said he thought it was when I asked him.

Along with the sole and Doritos, the mystery basket revealed some Patron tequila, bok choy, and Creekstone Farms teres major beef.  I found in an article online about a butcher's best kept secret that the teres major is the muscle that sits on top of the shoulder blade.  According to this source, cuts of the teres major look and taste like tenderloin.  Not that you'll find it in any grocery store very easily.  Especially here in Little Rock anyway.

Chef Ferneau's sous chef diced the beef, mixed in diced jalapenos, then made empanadas using won ton skins with a dab of the Coleman sour cream, another ingredient that needed to be used by the competing teams.

Team Ferneau's finished plate...

Team Ferneau lost by a really, really small margin to Chef Jason Knapp of the University of Central Arkansas.  However, Chef Ferneau did win the final event in 2008.  Chef Knapp's plate above.  I love the tricolor confetti! 

Chef Jeffrey Ferrell of Capital Hotel competed against Chef Diana Bratton of Taco Mama and Cafe 1217, then advanced on to the semi - finals to compete against Chef Jason Knapp.  Chef Bonner Cameron of Ya Ya's Euro Bistro, one of my two favorite restaurants, also competed against Chef Steven Burrow of our Clinton Presidential Center.  Chef Cameron had a nice cheering section of staffers from his restaurant. 

Chef Knapp looks over the big screen above as the winner of the first semi - final is announced.  Chef Cameron would be advancing to the final round June 5th at the Statehouse Convention Center.

In round two, Chef Malik worked with Steelhead, which looks and tastes just like salmon to me.  Sous chef Richard worked on the strip loin. 

I thought their finished plate looked pretty and tasty.

The last mystery basket of the evening in the Diamond Chef Arkansas Preliminary Contest 2012 was unveiled by Todd Gold, director of the Pulaski Technical College Arkansas Culinary School.  More beef from Creekstone farms, more liquor, and a Snowball snack.  Or did the last heat have a Snowball?  I don't know if I'd rather cook with that or the Funyons from heat 3!

My friend Bob Steel of KARN News Radio did a great job as an emcee of heat two.  I helped test the microphone as I suggested we resume talking about politics and our state government.  Who better to add to that conversation than one of my besties, Kristi McKinnon. 

As the guys started work on the final fish of the night, I ducked out.  I heard that Chef Knapp and Chef Cameron would be battling it out at the final Diamond Chef Arkansas event June 5th at the Statehouse Convention Center.  If you have $150 to spare for a ticket, it's a great time!  I attended in 2010, with the B98 group, and we enjoyed a delicious sit down meal and a great show!

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