Meeting New Friends? Tacos in a Bag!

The first time my older son had tacos in a bag was as an adult at a friend's house.  When he first told me about this twist on a traditional favorite, I crinkled my nose and thought, "What's wrong with just a regular old taco?  Soft taco shells were the only evolution necessary."  Wrong.

For this particular serving, we were meeting a new friend of my older son, she had never had the taco in a bag experience and as a bonus, my son was cooking. (Mother that I am, I could not resist chopping up the lettuce and tomatoes waiting for him to get home and make dinner.)

Tacos in a bag requires the same ingredients you would need for a traditional taco.  For us that means lettuce and tomato,

seasoned and browned ground beef, cheddar or blend of cheeses, taco sauce and sour cream. 

 Vegetarians of course may chose to substitute rice, tofu or other protein for the meat.  Additional options are as limitless as for any other taco - maybe try fish, shrimp, chicken, turkey, add guacamole or slices of avocado, get creative.

For the "bag" portion of tacos in a bag we buy a large box of snack size chips which may include traditional nacho chips, cool ranch chips, and my favorite for this recipe - Fritos.

Hypocrite that I am, I first scorned the meal and now am morphing it into my own. I do not eat mine out of a bag, but pour all ingredients onto a plate and mix them together in a taco salad fashion. 

My older son, a taco in a bag purist, first crunches up the nachos then opens the bag and dumps in all ingredients then either shakes or mixes it together before eating with a fork.

The husband prefers his without sour cream.  This also makes for more visual appeal.

My younger son avoids the bag experience and simply heats a few soft tortilla shells and prepares a more traditional taco.  Which of us are the most similar?  Hard to say.

And our new guest?  Well, she went right along with the instructions given by my older son and seemed to enjoy her first taco in a bag.  It must have went fairly well - they are out together again tonight.

Anniversary Lunch at the Culinary Institute of America

On a cloudy Monday in May, we visited the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY's Ristorante Caterina de' Medici for the second time.  Our first visit was for our 20th wedding anniversary and now we were celebrating our 25th. 

In the morning, we visited the historic Vanderbilt Mansion (http://www.nps.gov/vama/index.htm). 

We had visited the home of President Franklin.D.Roosevelt (http://www.nps.gov/hofr/index.htm) in the past but never made it just a bit farther to the Vanderbilt Mansion grounds, though we believe we have seen it from a number of Hudson River boat rides.

The tour was wonderful, informative, our guide was fun and I was able to take quite a few photographs.  A new tour including "At your Service:  Behind the Scenes," will soon begin and we were happy to be ahead of the crowds.  However, the formal gardens though massive and beautiful were not able to be fully appreciated with limited plants in bloom.

Off to the CIA for a wonderful meal.

http://www.ciachef.edu/

I especially love talking with the students.  For this trip, they were all new to the service area (front of the house) and our server was a mere 9 weeks from graduation.  The professor bustled about with limited expression as he corrected, assisted and pointed out errors.  We first enjoyed a "gift" from the chef, a strawberry wrapped in prosciutto and topped with chopped pancetta.  The perfect amuse bouche (though I often divided bite size portions in half to allow longer lasting enjoyment).

For me, a starter of beef carpaccio.  The common joke for beef sliced this thin may be, "It was so thin it only had one side," and it was exquisitely delicate in size while quite flavorful.

For my husband, a starter of more prosciutto.  It is a love we share and so we can't ever really have too much!  The tiny cornichon were not his favorite, but I enjoyed a sample.

Roast quail with sausage stuffing wrapped in bacon on a bed of spring risotto with peas.  For Monsieur or Madame?

The meat was succulent and moist, the stuffing savory, the rice creamy and decadent.

A medium-rare grilled steak with a side dish of....

Rosemary Truffle Fries with a creamy Parmesan dipping sauce.  The fries were perfectly crisp on the outside with a baked potato consistency on the inside.  Heaven in a snappy bite. 

Dessert was a take home order of an assortment of Italian cookies and Profiteroles.  I don't know why, but I expected the shmancy cream puffs to have a dignified coating of chocolate on top.  Though I may have missed it for a second, the pastry were prepared beautifully on demand.

A tasty field trip to remember.

New Things in the Paper Sack Lunch

Ask most students what their favorite part of the school day is and they will likely answer, "recess."  The closest equivalent to recess in the average work day is lunch and I do look forward to it.  Combining my loves - a passion for food and just talking stuff over. 

*WARNING:  NOT FOR THE EASILY QUEASY* 

We do talk about everything from modern women making the decision to have their placenta encapsulated after they give birth so they may possibly receive the benefits of additional iron, reduced bleeding and higher nutrition for their newborn to the craziest behaviors we have seen at weddings.  And, many times, we talk about food.  What's for lunch in the cafeteria, how we feel about the cafeteria offerings in general, the area restaurants, what we're cooking for dinner, and if we recently tried any new dishes or foods.

I am always at a slight disadvantage in the area restaurant chat portion because I live almost one hour away from work and even after 4 years am still learning my way around the neighborhood near my place of employment. 

Recently, my work neighbor ran out at lunch then joined us in the conference room with this bag.  The immediately shocking part is the fact that she is and has been a vegetarian for quite some time.  Had she fallen off the wagon and needed a double cheese with bacon? 

Also, she typically eats in the medium to high range of healthy.  What happened?  Is this the food equivalent of falling off the wagon?  Was she heading for some kind of culinary crash landing?  Did this one binge need to be noted in case of future intervention proceedings?

NO, No, no.

Smash Burger (a chain I have little knowledge of) offers a vegetarian black bean burger topped with jalapeno peppers and a slew of other toppings.

Yes, they also have "regular" burgers and are fairly close to our building.  We are already planning a field trip to invade this somewhat mysterious joint.

I was immediately drawn in by the choice of other sides instead of potatoes.  Let the double arches offer apple slices, this place offers battered and deep fried pickles as well as flash fried veggie frites, string beans and carrots with a buttermilk ranch dipping sauce.  Oh my.  Their menu even includes truffle fries.  Now we're talking.

I'm not saying I am ready to ditch beef (or chicken or pork) but I do enjoy switching it up and look forward to giving a few of my meals a veggie or meatless twist.  Might even end it with a Haagen Dazs shake.  If you come to my department and we are all asleep at our desks at 2 p.m., it may be because we binged at Smash Burger. 

Would extra tread mill miles help?

Marsala Medallions with Mash or Chicken and Potatoes?

Weeknight dinners...in an effort to keep things exciting without spending a lot of time, the 30 minute meal was likely born.  The trick is to also rotate the menu so the taste buds and family are not restless, keep the ingredient list fairly simple and ensure many components are always on hand.  Every once in while, an error will be made like forgetting that the mushrooms were used with the grilled steak and are no longer in the drawer for Chicken Marsala.  The other obstacle is once my mind and salivary glands have communicated the promise of food to come, it is difficult to detour or substitute.  With Marsala and mashed potatoes in mind, improvisation is forced. 

The easy solution is to simply make the chicken without the mushrooms and so a plan was formed.

Using boneless, skinless chicken breast sliced into "medallions" - ok, they were sort of 1 x 2 cubes, but give a writer a little poetic license, then dredged in flour and browned in a magic red pot. 

(Ever since I received mine I have been able to produce a new dynamic of fabulous meals)

The chicken is then seasoned with salt, pepper then browned in a splash of olive oil.  Some garlic, a bit of fresh parsley, chicken broth, a generous pat of butter and a gurgle  + splash of Marsala wine. 

Simmer and reduce until the sauce is thick, lush and irresistible.

Serve on a pillow of mashed potatoes.

Don't be surprised if everyone is quiet for the first few minutes.  They are merely enjoying the fabulous food, tongues smiling and thinking happy thoughts.  In fact, no one really missed the mushrooms this time.

Pseudo Paella/Jambalaya

The age old question, "What's for dinner," has become increasingly difficult for me to answer.  Not because I don't have a plan if it is asked in the morning, and not because something isn't already cooking, it simply may not have a name.

The name of a dish is especially important to my husband as I have discussed in previous posts.  However, it is important to at least be able to describe the meal in question with references all family members or diners will relate.  Sometimes I make, "those Mexican wrap things" and my family will know what I mean.  The contents of the wrap are:  refried beans, peppers, onions, cheese (cheddar or blend of cheddar/jack) and left over steak or chicken.  Neither burrito nor taco nor enchilada, the wraps are baked in the oven until the beans are bubbly and the cheese melted.  They may be topped with taco sauce, salsa or a verde sauce - up to the individual taste. 

Last night, I knew I had shrimp and chorizo so the combinations appeared in my head that included rice, peppers and whatever else I may have on hand that could be deemed appropriate.  Additional options could have included olives or onions, but instead I halved cherry tomatoes.  While my younger son had an idea of what was happening in the kitchen, he was pleasantly surprised when called to put his serving in a dish.

"Oh, you didn't say you were making Jambalaya."

Well, technically, I didn't.

When my husband came to the kitchen he said, "Wow, this looks good."  Perhaps that should be the name of all my future dinners.

Would you? Could you?

The New York Times Dining section this week included the following article:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/25/dining/coming-home-to-a-neighbors-treat.html?_r=1&ref=dining
"The Culinary Definition of Neighborly," by Laura M. Holson and I started to really think about food as a gift. 

When my previous neighbors had their first child, I gave them a cold-cut platter on their first day home since I knew not only would the new parents not feel much like cooking, but inevitably family and friends would want to stop by and meet the baby.  Being able to offer guests a bite without any fuss seemed like a great gift to me.  The platter did seem to come in handy for them. 

However, I work with a woman who simply will not eat most food brought in from co-workers.  "I don't know what their kitchen is like, how clean they are, etc."  While I understand and can relate to her concerns, I am usually willing to take the risk for a home baked good and am especially glad I did not miss the recent 4 ingredient cookies.

When I had a surgery a few years ago, wonderful and thoughtful gifts of food from work included a warm and comforting chicken noodle soup and a rice pilaf that went beautifully with anything. 

For my sister's baby shower, her sister-in-law gave her a cooler full of home made frozen meals so the last thing the new mom would have to think about was, "what's for dinner." 

Holiday gift guides often rave about gifts from the kitchen and perhaps putting dry ingredients together in a cute mason jar for hot chocolate or cookie dough.  My thoughtful neighbors this past year gave us a basket loaded with goodies (of course many of them were already eaten before the photo shoot):

Meat also seems a popular choice for gift giving.  I once gave my future brother-in-law a cooler of Filet Mignon and I believe my other brother-in-law received some Omaha steak love at his retirement dinner from a family member. 

Food gifts go well beyond boxed chocolates but the jury seems to be out about giving and receiving home made culinary creations.  What are your thoughts on both giving and receiving food from a friend, neighbor, co-worker?  Will you eat it?  Would you cook for them or only give prepared food as a gift?

Salsa Goodness

I am a lover of salt, salty snacks, chips and dips.  I understand chocoholics and have experienced times when I felt like nothing else will do. 

However, I simply cannot imagine a life without salt.  I have a shaker habit that's hard to kick, and yes, will sometimes reach out for it without tasting my food first.  Horrifying.

I also can't think of a single savory item that I would not enhance with a bit of salt.  From asparagus to zucchini, I simply want it.  It has not been a physical issue, no high blood pressure or other ill effect, but I know my choice must be a bit on the extreme side judging by the reactions of those around me when I sprinkle on a little salt.

So, why should my snack habit not be a prime example of my love?  My pantry may contain both cookies and chips, but I will always go for the chips first.

I have tried to pair my love for crunchy thin snacks with the healthier choices now available and have dabbled in sea salt versions, baked veggies crisps, as well as multi-grain (my current favorite).  To ease my guilty conscience, I create a quick and fresh salsa with minimum ingredients:

Fresh Tomato

Green Bell Pepper

Onion

Salt and Pepper

A dash of olive oil

Sprinkle of garlic powder (or ground fresh if on hand)

All proportions are to your taste and by eye

When preparing, plan ahead for the number of people in the house at the time it will be eaten.  Even if you offer it to everyone before it is assembled, they may say, "no thank you," but once they see it in the bowl they will not be able to help themselves.  And, as the saying goes, no one can eat just one.  No one.