Do I Dare Say It? Holy Mole Ravioli... Well, Maybe Not But You Understand The Point

The UB can get into food ruts.  She frequently finds a food item, type of beer or mixed drink and keeps playing with it, like a cat with a toy, until she is bored and turns up her nose at it for the foreseeable future.  At that point, I have to find new catnip for her to sniff.  I, the AlphaChef on the other hand, usually flit from taste to taste like a teenager who thinks the next thing is always the greatest. This is why I love to play my gargantuan song collection on random.  Currently, the UB is on a roll with ravioli. I had my gaze on the Hungarian salami in the fridge.  If I am willing to combine Thai style curry with ravioli why would I stop at trying Hungarian flavors? And for the life of me I don't understand what happened.  I ended up with almost a Mexican mole. And it worked.

It worked really well. I guess that is the most important thing. Oh, and it was easy. 

Let's start with the sauce.  I tossed into a mini food processor (but a blender will work too) this laundry list:


1/8 tsp cayenne
3-4 oz of tomato paste
1 tsp fish sauce
1 garlic clove chopped
3-4 tablespoons good quality sweet paprika
1 c roasted sweet red bell pepper (roast over gas flame. by blow torch or buy them pre-roasted) chopped into medium sized chunks
1 oz of beef broth
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Technique Warning. OK. If you don't know how to roast a bell pepper in 3-4 minutes on your gas stove here's a technique:

Go to the store and buy roasted bell pepper in a bottle. Oops, sorry wrong instructions. Cut the red pepper  longitudinally in half. Remove the seeds and whitish parts of the pepper.  Lay the pepper skin down and flat on top of the rack that covers the gas burners so that the flame are under the pepper. Frequently, rotate the pepper until the pepper's skin become somewhat charred across the whole side. And then flip the peppers so the inside of the pepper is in the flame, continue with the same technique as before but the inside won't char - it will become slightly cooked = soft.

Blend all the above in the food processor until fully pureed. Oh my, that was difficult.

Now let's move on. Make sure you have this stuff too. You'll need it.

7 oz of beef broth (or the rest of the container)
Salt
Pepper

Bacon fat or some sort of oil such as olive oil

1 large shallot, sliced thin (about a half a cup - more is fine)
3 oz. julienne Hungarian style salami
Cheese ravioli about 12 -14 pieces
Peach liqueur
Sambuca

In pan which you can cover, melt bacon fat, add the sliced shallot, cover on medium heat for a couple minutes. The goal is to soften the shallot and not brown them. Add a splash of beef broth, cover again for another couple minutes, until fully softened. Add puree you made 5 minutes earlier and the rest of the beef broth, a bay leaf, 3 oz finely sliced Hungarian salami, a pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, a splash of sambuca, and a splash of peach liqueur (or in a pinch Cointreau, grand Marnier or triple sec). Put lid back on and simmer until the ravioli is fried.

As foreshadowed, its time to make the fried cheese ravioli.  I am assuming you are lazy like me and bought decent ravioli from the refrigerated section of the grocery store. I am going to give you different directions on how to cook the little squares of laziness. Generously coat a pan [which is large enough to space the placement of the pasta so all the raviolis are flat onto the pan's bottom. Hint: This is a technique tip] with olive oil and 1/8 inch water plus another tablespoon of olive oil, and bring it to a boil on high. Spread out the ravioli across the pan. Cook until water evaporates, and then drop the temperature to medium high. Continue to fry the bottom side of the ravioli until it is lightly brown and then flip in order to brown the other side.

Plate the ravioli, remove the bay leaf from the sauce and then cover the pasta with the sauce. Marvel how the hell did this sauce end up tasting like a mole?

And if you really want to garnish it, I would recommend sprinkling it with either pine nuts, chopped parsley or shards of broken beer bottle.  Did I just type that?

Roasted "It turned out to taste a lot like kugel" Chicken

AC is really good at roasting chicken, has a million variations, and since the technique is so solid, he's consistent. This particular roast chicken was a surprising step-up. Not surprising in that we know what he is capable of in the kitchen, but surprising in a normal-weekday-night-not-a-lot-of-time-to-cook kind of way.

Using ingredients we had around the kitchen from other meals, AC created a roasted chicken that made both of us stand up and notice. It was reminiscent of kugel- a raisin, cinnamon-y casserole that is pure comfort food. The creamy cheese mixture, stuffed in between the skin and the meat was sweet, spicy and complex. The skin was perfectly crisp and the chicken perfectly moist and flavorful. The vegetable mix complemented the chicken perfectly- both of us cleaned our plates and ate way more than usual. So we thought we'd pass it on to see what you think.


In a small bowl place three cloves of  smashed garlic, 1/3 minced chile
and 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar and let it soak while you prepare the chicken.

Preheat your oven to 425*.


In a small mixing bowl, combine the following,
2/3 chopped hot chile
3 oz feta cheese
1 1/2 tbsp of plum preserves (or other slightly savory preserve)
black pepper to taste


Take 2 chicken, thigh/leg combos, and stuff the cheese mixture under the skin. Then sprinkle the outside of the chicken with salt, smoked paprika, 1 tsp dried rosemary and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

Prep the following:
1-2 oz cured Italian salami sliced thin
1 can cannelini beans, rinsed
1/2 bell pepper (yellow) sliced
1/2 red onion, chopped roughly
5-6 crimini mushrooms, chopped in large pieces
1 cup cheap dry red wine
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 tsp dried lavender
1/2 tsp of Kachai powder
black pepper and salt to taste
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tbsp bacon fat


Place the above ingredients and the smashed garlic-chile-balsamic mixture into an oven safe frying pan and bring to a boil on your stove top, let it boil for about 30 seconds. This is to basically heat the pan so it cooks faster in the oven.



Place the chicken on top of the vegetables and place in a 425* oven for 20-25 minutes.


Pull out, add 2 cups of spinach underneath the chicken, put back in oven and cook for an additional 5 min. 

Lobster Rolls....in Minnesota???

I am very hesitant about this post. You know when you find something so good you want to tell everybody about it, but if you do, then it might not be so good? It starts when your favorite restaurant gets a good review, and initially you're really happy for them. And then you can never get in again. The food quality decreases because demand is so high, they can cut corners and keep the masses. You simply lose the pleasure because it's no longer rare. Well, I'm going to go for it anyway, I don't have that many readers.

Northeast Minneapolis is famous for it's corner, hole-in-the-wall, bars. The 1029 Bar is an excellent example. It's an old cop hangout. There are bras and car doors hung up around the bar. They still have the typical boring beer selection, you know you can count on getting a Summit EPA. The crowd is jovial, playing pulltabs in the front, karaoke in the back. You get the picture. Typical blue collar, Nordeast hangout. So what's the big deal? It's all a front for the best lobster rolls I have ever had. Parked out back, from Tuesday through Sunday, is the Smack Shack. A made in Minneapolis food truck, The Smack Shack makes lobster rolls, lobster and arugula, lobster mac and cheese, shrimp po' boys and burgers. For those of you familiar with lobster rolls you may be picturing a hot dog bun filled with freshly cooked lobster, maybe a little mayo or melted butter and that's about it. Those who are lobster roll traditionalists would say the simplicity of the roll subtly supports the fresh, sweet lobster, letting it shine. Nothing wrong with this. Personally, I have always wanted to like lobster more than I do. Boiled lobster is too much work for too little reward. For me, the lobster roll is too simple, just doesn't live up to it's reputation. So for those willing to open your mind a bit, you'll want to check this out.    

This MN version of the lobster roll makes me proud to be from this town. Each portion is whopping. Huge pieces of lobster with always a number of claws, just to prove it's fresh and they aren't being cheap. It's tarragon, lobster, cucumbers and a refreshing vinaigrette. The lobster mix is sandwiched between two slices of a rich, buttery, toasted brioche. It's quite possibly one of the most perfect things I have ever eaten. For $14. No exaggeration. The other lobster items stand on their own. The lobster and arugula is for the dieters- put me on this diet any day- the mac and cheese is the opposite of diet food. It's good, but so very rich. For non-lobster items, the shrimp po' boy is fabulous, stands up well against any of the po' boys I had in New Orleans, and the rumor is the burger rocks.  

This may be one of the best kept secrets in Minneapolis/St. Paul. The Smack Shack will be opening their own restaurant in the near future, and it will be successful, and busy. I highly recommend you get in on the action now.

The 1029 Bar, 1029 Marshall St NE Mpls MN 55413.

He's sort of a big Jerk Chicken

Okay- the title of this post- the AC came up with it. He describes this delectable dish as "sort of" jerk chicken. Because it's not traditional jerk. And if AC is anything it is NOT traditional.

In Minnesota we have a problem with spice. Really, here paprika is spicy. When things are spicy, it's the spicy just to be spicy- think XXX hot sauce- heat with no flavor. So flavorful and spicy can be hard to find if you don't know where to look. Since I have been with the AC my spice tolerance has risen exponentially. So when other Minnesotans say that something tastes spicy, I usually think- "it is???".  In most mainstream restaurants a dish called "jerk" is just really, really salty. We do have flavorful, spicy jerk, just go to Harry Singh's. Thai spicy can be found at On's Kitchen. Otherwise see my previous sentence.

This dish reminded me of New Orleans. The sauce is rich and flavorful with a spice that warms your mouth to hot. The sauce is not just spicy, but has true dimension. The cayenne we're using right now is very spicy. If you want this to be hot, double the cayenne. For my loved ones who struggle with spice, feel free to adjust ingredients, the "sort of" in the title allows it.

Marinate 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs for 3-5 hours in:

1/2 c coconut milk
1 1/2 tbsp of sweet dark soy sauce
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp galangal
1 tsp kachai powder

You will also need the following:

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1" squares
1/2 red onion, cut into larger chunks
1/4 c white rum
Black pepper
White pepper
2 tsp Vietnamese garlic chili paste
1 tsp Five spice
Salt

After the chicken has been marinaded: In a sauce pan with a cover, place the red bell pepper, red onion, and lay the chicken on top. Pour the rest if the marinade over the chicken and vegetables. Add the white rum, black pepper and heavily dust with white pepper. Smear the Vietnamese garlic chili sauce on the chicken thighs- about 1 tsp on each piece. Cover the pot and bring to low boil for 15 minutes.

Make rice according to instructions, but add tsp 5 spice and a large pinch of salt before cooking. When the rice is cooked, garnish with chopped cilantro.

The Best Korean in Minnesota

Notice the title. It says the best. This is not a title I would give easily. Psssst...I am about to reveal a secret we've been guarding for the last 11 years. There is good Korean in this town. And it's in Columbia Heights. Sandwiched between a discount hardware store (think of the dollar store, but insert hardware) and a trailer park. Right there, in the middle, is the best Korean you will find in our humble state. Head to 45th and Central Ave NE, at the intersection, turn west, follow the vast strip mall on the right, at the end, in the way back, you'll see Dong Yang.

Just take a look at it's humble exterior, which is very deceiving. If you go, take minute to watch the mix of people in the parking lot, go ahead, you'll be entertained for some time.




You walk in and it's an Asian grocery store. Look around, see the fun candies, interesting canned and jarred items, marvel at how much cheaper you can buy a steamer or fresh basil, than at, say, Byerly's. But keep going. Head to your left and you'll see a small, brightly lit, cafeteria counter and people who are smiling. They're smiling because they have discovered the secret.

To the left is a picture of the counter. It's pretty simple, you look at the picture and order by the number on the left corner. It all goes very quickly, so just go with your gut.

You will pay, grab some chop sticks, maybe a drink, napkins and sit yourself down.


A few minutes later, you'll hear a voice call a number. No, you didn't get a number when you ordered, you just go. If they hand you your food, you know it's yours, if not, you just go and wait at your table again.

When you get your food, you will swoon. You'll also marvel at all the dishes you ordered. To me, the best part about Korean food is the variety. You order your main dish and it comes with a vast array of sides.For main dishes you can get beef, pork, eggs, seafood and fabulous noodles. Usually the sides are vegetable, generally fermented, spicy vegetables. Every day is different. Every one is delicious, or at least worth trying once.

Seafood pancake at Dong Yang

At this point, I have to warn you, eating at Dong Yang requires some sense of adventure and a willingness to try new things. If you don't possess these traits, that's okay, just stop reading now.

For me, this is exactly why I'm into food, so this is my heaven. A couple tips, 1) order and eat family style- it's the best way to get variety and it's the way the menu is designed. 2) If you don't order a drink, you can still get a free cup of tea, it's in the pot to the left of the counter, just fill up a couple styrofoam cups- it's really good tea. 3) Much of the food comes spicy. It's not Thai spicy, but it comes the way it comes. That's all about the sense of adventure I was talking about. 4) Finally, a good lesson for anyone interested in exploring the hole-in-the-wall ethnic restaurant world- look around, see what others are doing, how they behave, and imitate. Don't make assumptions.  

Every time we've been to Dong Yang, it's surpassed our expectations. Pictured are the Dumplings, the Seafood Pancake, Spicy Stir Fried Pork and the Cellophane Noodles. See below for a little inspiration, then pack your car and head over to the Heights to check this out.

Let me know what you think.

Dumplings and sides, notice the eyes? It's smelt.

Spicy Stir Fried Pork- not too spicy, but delicious.

Cellophane noodles, infinitely better than they look in this picture.

Another visit- example of the fantastic sides. 

Now go!!