Busy Nothings

The Taco Shop has been around Fargo for as long as I can remember.  Whenever I went by their location on South University Drive I always felt a little intrigued.  What is this mysterious shop that sells tacos?  But for all of my curiousity, I never went until yesterday.  I don’t know if it was the fact that the shops look a little seedy from the outside or if the incessant marketing from Taco Bell and Taco Johns affected me or if I just don’t get fast-food Mexican very often.  But after hearing a very favorable report on it from a friend of mine, I decided that it was my duty to go.  Not only to have a nice lunch but also to support a local restuarant.

I went to the location on North University.  I ordered the grinder with taco meat.  It comes on french style bread with lettuce, cheese, and a generous amount of meat.  For no additional charge, patrons can add jalapeños, black olives, and other vegetables.  I really liked the sandwich.  The meat was just spicy and had no trace of that greasiness that seems so prevalent in a hamburger-based taco filling.  The bread was soft yet had enough structure to hold together and provide a clean eating experience.  And the half-portion was plenty of food to satisfy my hunger.  As a side I ordered the fritas which are basically wide french fries.  They came out crispy and hot but seemed  just a tad underseasoned. 

The Taco Shop really offers a great lunch at an affordable price.  There are three locations:

1825 University Dr. South

420 University Dr. North

And there is a new location is South Fargo on 45th Street of which I do not have the address

I made a really easy dinner last night that was more of a refrigerator raid than anything else.  I had in my possession leftover smoked turkey, scraps from about 1 yellow onion, 1 russet potato, eggs,  worchestershire sauce, and Frank’s hot sauce.  For those readers who like corned beef hash, I think you know where I’m going with this.  I made turkey hash and it was really good.  I liked the smokiness in the turkey as it paired nicely with the meaty flavor of the worchestershire sauce.  Not to mention that hash is just one of the great pleasures in life.  After topping the hash with some over-easy eggs and some more hot sauce, it was pretty much heaven on a plate.  Here’s a really rough recipe but hey, it’s hash, just throw it together already:

Simple Turkey Hash

1 onion, chopped

3 T butter

1 russet potato, cut into 1/4 inch cubes and boiled till just about tender

1 green or red bell pepper (optional), chopped

2 cups leftover smoked turkey

Worchestershire sauce, to taste,

Hot sauce, to taste,

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Over-easy eggs, as many as you want to eat

Melt the butter in a heavy skillet, preferably cast-iron, over medium heat.  Add the onions (and peppers if using) and saute until they being to color.  Add the potatoes and turkey and a sprinkle the mixture with the Worchestershire and hot sauces and pepper.  Taste and adjust any seasoning.  Saute, turning occasionally until the mixture is heated through and beginning to crisp.  Serve with over-easy eggs. 

Like I said, really simple but really satisfying.  Here’s a picture:

Yesterday was the last grilling day of 2007.  The weather is turning colder and my charcoal supply just ran out.  It’s always a bittersweet time of year for me.  I hate to give up the ability to grill but I am excited to start making those cold-weather comfort dishes again.  Anyway, for the last hurrah, I went to Meats by John and Wayne and picked out an enormous ribeye steak.  I didn’t know the steak I chose was going to be over a pound but it was and even though I didn’t want that much meat, I really couldn’t refuse.  It was absolutely beautiful. 

The recipe I started with was Hickory Grilled Ribeye Steaks with Bacon Molasses Butter at Epicurious.  It aroused my interest because it basically used Billionaire’s Bacon and butter as a sauce for steaks.  Readers of this blog know what a sucker I am for butter and for that bacon.  The twist on Billionaire’s Bacon in the Epicurious recipe was to use molasses instead of brown sugar while roasting the bacon.  So, I was interested and it was my intention to follow the recipe as closely as I could.  But, when I arrived home, I found that I couldn’t find any molasses so I had to revert back to the original Billionaire’s Bacon recipe.  The only other modification I made to the recipe was to omit the smoke element.  Epicurious asks that hickory chips be thrown on the grill while cooking.  I like smoke but for the amount of time these steaks are on the grill, the benefit of the hickory chips is pretty minimal.  So I skipped it.  Here’s my modified recipe:

Ribeye Steaks with Billionaire’s Bacon Butter

8 slices of bacon

1 cup brown sugar

8 T butter

4 ribeye steaks about 1 pound each

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Line a baking sheet with foil.  Lightly oil the foil.  Place about half of the brown sugar on the baking sheet and then lay the bacon on the brown sugar, keeping each slice separate from the other.  Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar on the bacon.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the bacon is done but not crispy.  Cool slightly and remove from the pan.  When the bacon is completely cool, chop finely and mix with the butter. 

Season ribeye steaks and then grill to the desired doneness.  I like to do this right on top of my charcoal chimney but that’s just me.  When done, remove the steaks from the grill and cover with foil.  Let them sit for a couple of minutes and then serve with the butter mixture placed on top of the steaks. 

This dish is amazing.  The butter is just a wonderful combination of smoky, sweet, salty, and buttery.  I could almost eat it by itself.  It works great with the flavors in the ribeye steak, especially the marbled fat indicative of a ribeye.  The fats just seem to meld together so well.  This is definitely a winner and it is so easy to make.  Here’s a picture of my steak with some homemade french fries:

Potato salad is one of those ubiquitous dishes that everyone probably likes.  Yet because it is everywhere and made by so many different cooks, everyone has had really bad potato salad.  It might have been underdone with crunchy potatoes, overdone with mushy potatoes, had too much mustard, had too much vinegar, had dressing that is too “loose”, been underseasoned, or just had some funky weird flavors.  To me, a perfect potato salad will have firm yet tender potatoes lightly dressed in a creamy, thick dressing that is tart enough to pucker the mouth ever so slightly.  This recipe, from Alton Brown, comes pretty close to being perfect:

Cold-Fashioned Potato Salad, by Alton Brown (click here for the original)

2 /12 pounds red potatoes, large diced

3 T cider vinegar

3/4 cup mayonnaise (homemade if possible)

1 tsp mustard powder

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 T chopped fresh tarragon (do not used dried!)

1/2 T very thinly sliced garlic

3 T finely chopped cornichons

1/2 cup small dice red onion

1/2 cup thinly sliced celery

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Place potatoes into a large heavy-bottomed pot.  Cover with cold water and place over medium heat. Cover the pot and bring to a boil.  Immediately reduce heat and remove lid. Gently simmer until potatoes are fork tender.  Drain and place into an ice bath to cool. Add the vinegar and toss to coat all of the potatoes.  Place the bag into the refrigerator overnight.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, parsley, tarragon, garlic, cornichons, onions, and celery.  Once evenly combined, add the potatoes and season with salt and pepper.  Let the salad chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.This recipe produces a potato salad that is pleasantly tart with a little bit of heat from the garlic and a little crunch from the celery.  The cider vinegar adds a great deal of flavor to the mix (much more than the white vinegar used in so many other potato salad recipes) as do the cornichons (which are small French pickles).  But the “wow” ingredient in the dish is the fresh tarragon.  It’s anise flavor just seems to bring everything else in the salad together while being the diva of the whole dish.  It’s outstanding.  Here’s a picture:

In my college days, I was fortunate enough to visit Vienna and Berlin.  I was not as adventurous (or even interested) food back then but I was expecting to eat well while I was there.  I did have some really great food there but what surprised me most was the quality of the street vendor food.  Initially, I was quite skeptical of such food due to my unfamiliarity with the German language, German cuisine, and the almost uniformly poor state of street vendors in the U.S.  But, after a short consultation with one of the trip advisors after smelling an incredibly pungent street sandwich, I wasted no time in ordering a Döner Kebab.   This is similar to a gyro and it is absolutely delicious.  Another street vendor treat is a Käsekrainer which is a cheese stuffed sausage in a delicious roll. 

Unfortunately, I missed out on eating Currywurst while in Berlin.  According to Savuer magazine, it is just a popular as Döner Kebabs.  And with good reason, Currywurst is a simply ingenious concoction of curry, tomatoes, paprika, sausages, and bread (or french fries).  The sauce just jumps off the plate with flavor with the pungent sweetness from the curry, a little heat from the hot parika, and the acidity of the tomatoes.  It’s unbelievable.  Here’s the original recipe from Saveru:

Currywurst, from Saveur magazine here   

The best Schnell-Imbisse (fast-food stalls) make their own currywurst sauce, essentially a curry powder–flavored ketchup. Heat 2 tbsp. canola oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 finely chopped large yellow onion; cook until soft, 8–10 minutes. Add 2 tbsp. curry powder and 1 tbsp. hot paprika; cook for 1 minute more. Using hands, crush 2 cups whole peeled canned tomatoes (with juice) into pan. Add 1⁄2 cup sugar, 1⁄4 cup red wine vinegar, and salt to taste; stir well. Increase heat to high; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 25 minutes. Purée sauce in a blender until smooth. Strain sauce through a sieve. Serve hot over sausage. Makes about 1 1⁄2 cups.

A few notes: 1) I never bother to strain the sauce after the sauce has cooked.  I really like the texture of the sauce as it is.  2)  If you don’t have hot paprika, please add some cayenne pepper to the mix.  There really needs to be a little bit of heat in the dish to make it work properly.  3)  Use quality sausages and bread to complement the sauce. 

Here’s a look at the sausages I cooked:

And here’s the final product:

Cafe Muse is a counter service based restaurant inside of the Plains Art Musuem in Fargo, ND.  As such, it has the advantage of being in a rather beautiful setting as it looks into the main entrance of the musuem.  It is run by Mosaic Foods, which is a catering company that also puts on cooking demonstrations.  I was previously unaware of this and I think I’ll take advantage of it some night. 

For my lunch, I chose to eat Chile-Infused Pumpkin Bisque and a vegetarian sandwich on Focaccia (sorry, I have forgotten the name).  Here’s a picture of my half eaten soup:

It was really nice, homemade soup.  It was basically a pumpkin puree with small bits of shallots and celery that was flavored with some chile peppers.  There was such a great balance between the pumpkin and chile flavors.  Neither was very strong but both had their individual effects on the dish.  In fact, the soup itself was not that strongly flavored.  Instead, I can say it was pleasantly unobtrusive.  Very, very elegant.

My sandwich was not quite as good.  It was a melange of pesto, hummus, roasted red onion, seared tomato, a broccoli, carrot, and cauliflower mixture, gouda cheese, and sprouts.  There was a lot going on in the sandwich.  Every ingredient was really flavorful and of good-quality but it almost seemed like overkill on the sandwich.  But I think there was just too many flavors.  Perhaps, the sprouts may have been too aggressive an ingredient to top everything off.  Here’s a look at the sandwich:

Overall, though, I can’t wait to have lunch there again, especially for some great soup.  Cafe Muse is found in the Plains Art Museum.  The address is: 704 First Avenue North • Fargo, North Dakota.  The phone number is: (701) 232-3821 x118.  Please check it out. 

Alton Brown can make a pretty good chocolate chip cookie.  This recipe comes from an episode where he makes 3 cookies-crispy, cakey, and chewy.  I thought the latter looked the most appetizing so I gave it a try.  It was fascinating because it used melted butter, bread flour, and milk, all ingredients usually not found in a cookie recipe.  The end result was a very chewy and very moist cookie.  Not as good as the other chocolate chip cookie recipe on this site but still a really good cookie.  Here’s the recipe:

Chewy Chocolate Cookies, by Alton Brown (the original recipe can be found here)

2 sticks unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups bread flour

1 tsp Kosher salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 T milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 cups chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over low heat.  Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.  Pour the melted butter in the mixer’s work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. 

Chill the dough, then put 1/4 cup scoops of dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Steak au poive was on the menu last night.  This is a classic dish that I had never made before.  I don’t know if I thought it too old-fashioned or if I am just to wedded to the idea grilling steaks.  However, after making it last night, I think it might become a favorite dish of mine.  It is exceptionally simple to make but it brings together such great flavors-the slight sweetness of shallots, the sophistication of brandy (or cognac), the richness of heavy cream, and, of course, the heat of coarsely ground pepper.  It’s just a dynamite combination that pairs wonderfully with a nice steak.  Here’s the recipe:

Steak au Poivre, from Epicurious.com here 

 4 (3/4- to 1-inch-thick) boneless beef top-loin (strip) steaks (8 to 10 oz each)

1 T kosher salt

2 T freshly ground pepper

1 T vegetable oil

1/3 cup finely chopped shallots

1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

1/2 cup cognac or other brandy

3/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 200°F.

Pat steaks dry and season both sides with kosher salt, then press pepper evenly onto both sides of steaks.

Heat a 12-inch heavy skillet (preferably cast-iron) over moderately high heat until hot, about 3 minutes, then add oil, swirling skillet, and sauté steaks in 2 batches, turning over once, about 6 minutes per batch for medium-rare.

Transfer steaks as cooked to a heatproof platter and keep warm in oven while making sauce.

Pour off fat from skillet, then add shallots and half of butter (2 tablespoons) to skillet and cook over moderately low heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until shallots are well-browned all over, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add Cognac (use caution; it may ignite) and boil, stirring, until liquid is reduced to a glaze, 2 to 3 minutes. Add cream and any meat juices accumulated on platter and boil sauce, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, 3 to 5 minutes. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter and cook over low heat, swirling skillet, until butter is incorporated. Serve sauce with steaks.

Just a few notes about this recipe:  This recipe was actually first published by Gourmet magazine back in 1955.  Obviously, the dish predates that but I like the idea of a recipe having the type of appeal that can span generations.  I would have no qualms about serving this to my 93 year-old grandfather.  We drank an Oregon Pinot Noir (A to Z winery) with the steak and it was really good.  The wine was quite possibly the least fruity Pinot I have ever had and its resulting unobtrusiveness was a perfect match with the peppery sauce. 

I’ve got two picutres.  The first is the steaks searing in the pan and the second is the finished product.  Enjoy!

This is my favorite spaetzle recipe.  It creates a just chewy and buttery side dish that is interesting enough to stand on its own but inobtrusive enough to go well with anything.  The method of mixing the spaetzle is probably a bit unorthodox but I think it creates a spaetzle that has such a nice “bite” to it.  It goes great with Schnitzel. 

Spaetzle in Brown Butter (from Epicurious.com here) 

3/4 cup cold whole milk

3 large eggs

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg 

 2 cups all-purpose flour

4 T butter

Combine milk, eggs, salt and nutmeg in processor; blend until smooth, about 30 seconds. Add flour and blend until batter is just smooth, about 30 seconds (batter will be very thick and sticky).

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Working in batches, pour batter through slotted spoon held above boiling water, pressing with spatula to form strands. Stir gently to prevent sticking. Simmer until spaetzle float to surface, then continue cooking 1 minute longer. Using slotted spoon, transfer spaetzle to large buttered baking dish. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Cook butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add spaetzle and toss until heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide among plates.

Owing to my German heritage, I really enjoy those stereotypical German dishes: Sauerbraten, Spaetzle, Rotkohl (braised red cabbage), potato pancakes, and, of course, all kinds of Schnitzels.  There is something indescribably satisfying in them.  What’s better, most of those German delicacies are quite easy to make, like this very easy recipe for Pork Schnitzel:

Pork Schnitzel

2 8 oz thick cut pork chops, cut in half

3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 eggs

1 T canola oil

1 cup fine bread crumbs

Kosher salt and pepper

Canola oil, for pan-frying

Pound the pork chops until they are 1/8 inch thick.  Prepare your breading station.  Place the flour in one shallow dish and season with salt and pepper.  Mix the eggs with 1 T of canola oil and place in another shallow dish.  Finally, place the bread crumbs in a shallow dish.  Season each side with salt and pepper.  Heat a saute pan with enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan.  Then start to bread your pork.  Dredge the chops in the flour.  Shake off any excess flour and then coat the pork with the egg mixture.  Then, coat the pork with the bread crumbs and put the schnitzel directly in the pan.  Repeat.  (If your saute pan is not big enough to hold all of the schnitzels, cook them in batches.  Do not pre-bread the schnitzels while you are waiting for the others to cook.  You want to bread them as close to the cooking time as possible.)  Cook for about 2-3 minutes per side or until the pork is just cooked.  Serve immediately. 

So this recipe is just your basic breading procedure.  There’s nothing special about it.  But if you can do this, you really can cook a lot of great things at home: chicken fingers, chicken parmigiana, eggplant parmigiana, jalapeño poppers, etc.  This is definitely a skill any home cook worth his or her salt should have. 

For toppings, I like to go with acidity.  Fresh lemon juice from wedges is traditional but capers is also a nice choice.  And if you want a sauce, why not just go with melted butter?  Butter, all on its own, makes a great sauce.