pre.HEAT

See what's just around the corner with foodie ventures. Even more fall is on its way, so stay tuned for the FoodFacts and other autumnal goodies in store. Are you as excited for the comforting fall recipes and goodies as I am? Halloween is at our doorstep and that means Thanksgiving is right around the corner, which means great food, great seasonal candy... and great food adventures.

RER 10.16.12

RER 10.6.12

RER 10.11.12

Also, don't forget to take a peak at FOOD-tography and yelp for more delicious tidbits.

RER

10.17.12

MangiaMore: FISH tacos

RER 7.9.12

I love taco night, and I always have. When I was younger (well even still) it included ground beef, taco seasoning packet, cheese, refried beans (for me), chopped lettuce and tomatoes, sour cream and mounds of salsa. But now, it has evolved. Ever since I ventured into the little tiny restaurant, spawning from a truck, Taco Truck in Hoboken (check out my review here), I have been mildly obsessed with fish tacos. Ok, maybe it is not a mild obsession. I have tried fish tacos at a few other places (Turtle Club and MAE), but none were quite as great as the ones from the Taco Truck, until we tried to make them on our own. And with that adventure, came success.

We based our little homemade fish tacos on some of the tastes and components of those from the Taco Truck, but some research and creativity has landed us our own favorite recipes.

The parts for a great fish taco fiesta go something like this… remember, there are no exact measurements because these can be morphed into something your own. These are just general outlines, and they change for us every time we make them (which is pretty frequently).

RER 10.14.12

Pico de Gallo

Pico de gallo is like salsa; it’s fresh, chunky, mild, flavorful, and cooling. It has many of the same elements of salsa, but ends up being less saucy than many salsas we find in jars, and creates a staccato effect, interspersing bites of freshness in your taco. I like to make this first, because it gets much better with at least half an hour in the fridge to percolate.

All it takes is:

·      Chopped Tomatoes- I usually use 2ish smedium tomatoes which is just enough for 6 tacos, just add more if you want a larger portion

·      Chopped Red Onion- I generally use half of a small red onion, just because I am not crazy about it. But this can also be eyeballed; if it looks pretty it is probably right

·      Finely Chopped Jalapeño- This only takes a little bit so I would pick a little tiny one. Most times these peppers do not add much heat depending on the bite

·      A Few Sprigs of Fresh Cilantro- I take the leaves off and rip them directly on top of the other ingredients in the bowl. I am not crazy over cilantro (it tastes like soap to me, apparently it is genetic), so I deffo limit the amount of cilantro I use, but in the end I feel like it is necessary

·      A Healthy Squeeze of Lime- I usually use the juice of half of a lime

·      Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, and finely Chopped Garlic (fresh or jarred)- All of these ingredients should be to taste

Mix all the pieces in a bowl, stir it up, and throw it in the fridge to ruminate. I like to cover it too. When you take it out and uncover the bowl, the smells will be delicious.

Chipotle Mayo

Now this is a kicker. It is creamy and spicy, cooling and brings on the heat, all at the same time. This was one of the difficult things to pin point when we were chowing down on our fish tacos, but in the end, after research and playing around we got our own recipe.

All it takes is some chipotle peppers that have been canned with the adobo sauce, mayo, and sometimes some garlic powder and salt to taste. We deseed the peppers first and then cut them to a fine texture. Once this is done, add the peppers to the mayo. Usually it is about three large peppers per half a cup of mayo, but this also can be adjusted to taste or portion requirements.

Be careful it gets a little spicy.

FISHES

(really important part of fish tacos)

Picking the kind of fish to use was also based on the Taco Truck recipe (yeah yeah, we were trying to come close to replicating it). There they use catfish for the little fried fish nuggets found in their tacos, so naturally, we picked catfish nuggets that are sold at some grocery stores. Some other recipes recommend mild white meat fish, but also these recipes look to a beer batter kind of frying dealie. This we wanted to stay away from. We were looking for the kind of nubby grainy sandy kind of texture, just like our Taco Truck idols. But unlike the Taco Truck, we really wanted to taste the fish, not just its breading. This was one of our main goals in attempting the fish taco. Getting the largeish catfish nuggets we do get, creates a higher fish to breading ratio, so then it becomes the star.

Once again, this is a really loose recipe for the breading. I always find that it takes time to find the ratios that you like the best, and this is only my suggestion. At first we used the recipe for fish/seafood breader, on the package of the Indian Head Old Fashioned Stone Ground Yellow Cornmeal, as follows:

·      ¾ c cornmeal

·      ½ c all purpose flour

·      1 ½ t salt

·      ¼ t red pepper

·      ½ t black pepper

·      ½ t chili powder

·      1 t garlic powder

·      1 t onion powder

 But in the end we found that there was too much cornmeal for the breading, so we inversed the ratios, even adding more flour. We also do not end up using all the spices they suggest, sticking mainly to the salt, pepper, garlic and chili powder. Even with the spices we amp up the amount we use, so even without any of the other toppings the fishes are delicious.

Breading and frying the fishes also has taken some trial and error and experimentation. The cornmeal package says to dip the fish pieces in water, and then just to coat them in the breading mixture. We tried this, and we tried an egg wash mixture to help the breading to stick to the fish. But I think what tried the best was to dip the catfish nuggets in some flour then egg wash (egg and a little water) and then finally smothering the fish piece in our cornmeal flour spice mixture.

Deep frying the nuggets is not necessary. Most times we heat up just above a quarter of an inch of vegetable oil in our pan, and let the fishes cook for a few minutes on both sides. It is really easy to tell when the fishes are almost cooked through; when the catfish nuggets are about done, they curl up and turn hot white, and the breading gets a little golden brown.

I would once they are done, place each fish piece on a plate with a paper towel, to drain some of the grease.

RER 10.14.12

Assemblage

So, you have the chipotle mayo, the pico de gallo, the fishes…what else do you need or want on your taco? 

Tortillas are a must. Whichever kind you like. We just tried low carb tortillas, which were wheaty and pretty good. I would not try corn tortillas, mostly because I don’t like them. They are dry and grainy, but perhaps all the toppings would disguise that.

I like to put red cabbage on there, it cools the spice and the heat, as well as gives a different kind of crunch. The color is also really pretty, deep purple and mixes well with the colors of the pico de gallo. Also before putting the cabbage on the fish taco, I drench it (well about half a lime’s worth of juice) with limejuice. The tang adds something to cut the spice and help to unify the taste of the cabbage with the lime flavor in the pico.

I generally layer some of the chipotle mayo on the tortilla, then add my fishes, top that with pico de gallo and then finally the limey red cabbage. That’s how I like it, but it is up to you to make it your own!

RER

10.15.12

RER 7.9.12

BIRTHDAY family style: Socarrat

RER 9.26.12

RER 9.26.12

We went to one Socarrat of the chain of a few. It was my dear friend’s birthday and she wanted to celebrate with family style food and wine. And that is what we did. Sometimes it is hard to separate myself from the food , but I wanted to live up the paella bar for my friend’s celebration!

However, there are some things I do remember about the little cozy spot on Mulberry Street in the City.

 

The ambiance 

This place was really chill, really cozy and the atmosphere was great. It is a little restaurant with no more than 15 tables, and that Wednesday night, it was filled with people looking to enjoy themselves and a great meal. There were some groups of people, ours of six included, catching up and celebrating birthdays, friendship, life or whatever, over Spanish style tapas and paella.

The lighting was dark and moody, but also warm and inviting. There was just enough light to make out faces and words on the menu, but the food blurred with memories and laughter. There was the trendy exposed brick, stark white walls and black furnishing. Some black iron accents, like fences, added to the kind of exterior as interior motif, joining hands with the exposed brick.

There were just a few waiters, humming around the place, carrying large cast iron pans hot with fresh paella, or bottles of wine from the bar.  The bar was simple; a straight line right at the front of the restaurant looking out onto the quiet side street, the front door almost hitting the few stools that strolled around the wooden counter.

It was comfortable.

 
The food

We ordered some tapas to appease our yelling bellies and our wine minds. The tapas list was quite varied, but in the end mostly familiar. My friend’s friend ordered them for us, and he chose a healthy grouping of diverse tapas.

One of the tapas we tried was the croquettes of the day. It was really hard to discern what the soft interior was, but it was quite delicious. It was so much softer than the crispy outside. There was some thing stringy embedded in the fried doughy inside, mysterious and delicious. I wished I knew exactly what was in them, but I am pretty sure they were vegetarian for that night. It appeared that that was one of the favorite starters for the night.

We also tried a few others. One of my favorites that brought up a lot of discussion and culinary questions was the chorizo. I am a sucker for sausage, and chorizo is a fatty salty decadent Spanish sausage that most times does the trick. This chorizo however was not the same as the flavors nor texture that I am used to. Instead of the intense fatty tastes and mild sweet heat that chorizo often has, this tasted more like a generic hot dog to me. Some of the table really liked the little meaty pieces, while others were questioning the taste.

We also indulged in a cheese plate, with three different kinds of cheese, all of which had distinct tastes but not distinct names in my mind. They were accompanied by a fig paste, sweet grainy and thick, like a condensed jelly, and some candied almonds. The sweetness of the fig and the nuts contrasted the punch of the cheeses, creating a beautiful play of sweet and salty. The nuts added a nice crunch and rounded out the flavors with their meatiness.

Now, initially the six of us only ordered two different [aella, each meant for two people... for those failing at the math, that is fourish servings. We picked meat and the vegetarian varieties. The meat dish had rabbit, pork, duck and snails, though in the end, all those potential flavors were lost. I was longing for the tastes of the various meats. The meats that are far from familiar to me would have been a treat, but they were lost to salt, the unifier. I know paella is almost like a stew in that most everything is cooked together for a long time, which could potentially result in a melding of flavors. This is true, and not always a bad thing, but most times the individuals maintain most of their integrity. In this paella, that was not the case. Everything became one.

The vegetarian one was much better, each vegetable held their own, and did not let the rice conquer.

Later, after a little more wine and the contents of the other two paella pans were demolished, a third was ordered, for those (me), who were still hungry.

In all three though, had one unanimous issue: the crunchiness of the rice. The texture of the rice was both overcooked and undercooked (I know). Undercooked; the inside of the rice was dry at its core and had that crunch at its innermost spot. The rice of the dish felt like it had not absorbed enough water, liquid or fats  to soften the grains of rice. Overcooked; the rice was a crispy crunchy texture, and mostly the grains on the top and the bottom of the pan, were obliterated. This time rather than being dry on the inside, these overcooked morsels were dry from the outside. This was probably from the high temperatures of the ovens and the black iron pans they were cooked and served in. Some of us at the table liked that, though others (me) were not amused.

I was a little disappointed. I guess I am used to the Portuguese paella found in the Ironbound area of Newark, where the rice is soft and yellow, and almost bland, allowing for the other ingredients, namely seafood, meats and a few vegetables to be the star. Here in the City, I think that Socarrat is trying to make paella, which is family style and a staple in some places in the world, something too trendy and upscale.

The fun

My favorite part, other than seeing the giant smile on my friend’s face in celebrating, or when she blew out her candles, or even when our table rang with laughter at inappropriate banter, was deffo the creme brulee. It was much lighter than any I have ever had. It was not a stiff dense custard, but it was looser, cut with lime and other citrus notes, heavy vanilla, with a perfect crust of bruleed sugar on top. A great end to a great evening.

It was so much fun going out and indulging for my good friend’s birthday. I got to try new (or not quite so new) things, and chill, laugh and celebrate with really great people. I really hope she had as much as fun as I did. Happy (late) birthday lady!

 RER

9.26.12

RER 9.26.12

RER 9.26.12