Recipes by Ingredient + Prep – Page 74 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Turkey Tacodillas

For Thanksgiving this year, we had two roasted turkeys, one ham, five black sea bass, lumpia, or Filipino spring rolls, and three different kinds of salads to serve to eighteen people who celebrated with us in the apartment. We thought there would be a lot of leftovers but we were wrong. Our guests were good eaters and they cleaned everything off their plates. With the small amount of turkey meat left, I made some tacos and I made some quesadillas for lunch the next day. After eating a couple of them, I thought, why not mix them together? I call them tacodillas.

Ingredients:
leftover Thanksgiving turkey meat, off the bone, shredded
soft flour tortillas
Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1 tomato, chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
cilantro, finely chopped
lime juice
flaming cock hot sauce

1. Cut a tortilla in half. Prepare on a skillet. Lay one half of the tortilla and add some cheese and turkey meat, then follow with the rest of the filling. Cover with the other half of the tortilla.
2. Turn the heat on to medium. Using a heavy but smaller pot lid, press the tortilla to flatten. The heat will melt the cheese inside and make the two tortillas stick to each other. Turn and brown the other side using a wooden spatula or a flat spoon.

Pomegranate Meatballs with Tomato Mint Salad

Tyler asked me where he could buy pomegranate molasses. I’ve had Pom juice before but I’ve never heard of pomegranate in molasses form. I Googled and found out that it’s typically used in Mediterranean dishes. He found it for $8 at Dean and Deluca and used it to make some sort of appetizing tapenade. A few days later, I found a $4 bottle in Chinatown sans the pretty burlap packaging. I slathered the molasses in meatballs to give them that sweet and sour taste and served them with tomato mint salad.

Ingredients:
pork and beef ground meatballs
cumin seeds, grounded
coriander seeds, grounded
turmeric powder
red chilis, crushed
3 tbsps pomegranate molasses
tomatoes, chopped
mint leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Make meatballs. Dip in pomegranate molasses and then gently roll each ball on cumin, coriander, turmeric and red chilis.
2. In a deep skillet, heat some oil and fry meatballs until golden brown in medium to low fire. The molasses will burn faster than the meat so keep them bouncing in the hot oil using a strainer ladle.
3. Make tomato mint salad by combining tomatoes and mint in a bowl, dressed with red wine vinegar, olive oil and some salt and pepper. Top with meatballs.

Drunken Romanesque Salad

My first reaction was, What the hell is that? The sign at the farmers’ market said romanesque, a hybrid of a broccoli and a cauliflower. It was so pretty and it made me so curious, I picked up one for myself for $3. It reminded me of a small piece of coral. Before cooking it, I actually let it sit on my table at work as a conversation starter. The spikes are as tender as cauliflower. If you apply enough pressure, they break easily and crumble. But it’s as sturdy as a broccoli. I was able to take it home in a plastic bag without damaging it. I could have made a stir-fry dish but I just wanted to taste it on its own without any sauce or dressing.

I reluctantly cut up the pretty-looking romanesque in smaller pieces and salted and steamed them for 12 minutes. I shocked them in ice water to stop its cooking, drained and put them on a plate. I had leftover umbriaco cheese in the fridge and it was like a jackpot tasting them together. Adding prosciutto was also a nice touch.

Ubriaco means “drunken” in Italian and the hard cheese I got from Di Palo’s is made from cow’s milk soaked in red wine. A stripe runs through the middle to give it a nice touch of color. It actually has a plum taste to it, a little bit sharp and tart.

Ingredients:
1 romanesque, cut in smaller pieces
Umbriaco cheese, shaved (or any hard cheese will do)
prosciutto
salt

1. Steam romanesque for 12 minutes, salting them halfway through. When done, shock them in ice water and drain to a plate.
2. Sprinkle shaved cheese and serve with prosciutto.

Indonesia: Soto Betawi

The Betawi are the descendants of the people living in Jakarta and soto translates to soup. Soto Betawi is traditionally made with offal but Thalia’s recipe is a tamer version, just perfect for New York’s current dipping temperatures. The tamarind marinade made this soup a little sour with the tomatoes and the lime, which I loved, but I also added extra spices to give it a little more kick. I browned the beef first for some color and I just used the separate beef stock I had saved in the freezer. While the stock was simmering, I quickly deep-fried the emping melinjo crackers I bought from Chinatown. They added a nice crisp to the nutty-sour flavor of the soup. I think Thalia would have been proud.

Ingredients:
half a pound of sirloin beef
2 tbsps tamarind concentrate
1 can coconut milk
beef stock
2 medium potatoes, quartered
1 large tomato, chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, pounded
2 stalks scallions, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 tbsps semi-sweet soy sauce or kecap manis
emping melinjo crackers, deep-fried
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp cumin, grounded
red chilis
cilantro, finely chopped
1 small lime
sugar
salt, pepper

1. Prepare a day before: tenderize the sirloin beef by pounding with a mallet on a wooden block. In a small bowl, combine tamarind concentrate with sugar and salt to make a paste. Marinate beef in the fridge overnight.
2. When ready to cook, boil potatoes in a pot of water. In the meantime, cut beef into small cubes. In a pot with hot oil, sautÃ© bay leaf and shallots and brown beef on all sides. When potatoes are done, drain and lightly brown in the same pot.
3. Add beef stock and simmer. Stir in coconut milk. Add tomatoes, cumin, turmeric, lemon grass, lime juice, chilis and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for a few more minutes until beef cubes are tender.
4. To serve, put some of the meat and vegetables in a bowl first. Ladle broth and sprinkle with scallions and cilantro. Crush crackers on top. Squirt with leftover lime juice and stir in some kecap manis to taste.

Prosciutto and Arugula Pizzetta

If you’ve been visiting this site long enough, you know I spend a lot of time and money at Di Palo on Mott and Grand Street. I never wait less than 30 minutes except if I order ahead of time and arrange for a pickup. I usually just come in, pick a number from the machine at the door and wait for my turn to taste some new cheese or cold cuts and add to my usual order of prosciutto, spicy sausage, olive oil, illy coffee and Callipo tuna. During my last wait for 45 minutes, a dinner idea popped in my head and I ended up buying everything at Di Palo except for the fresh arugula I picked up at the grocery store on my way home. They also carry bread from Sullivan Street Bakery so I didn’t have to go out of my way–their focaccia rosemary bread is one of my favorites.

Ingredients:
1 square focaccia rosemary bread
fresh mozarella
Italian prosciutto, sliced paper-thin by the meat guy
fresh arugula, rinsed, pat dry
olive oil

1. Preheat oven at 350Âº. Prepare pizzetta on a baking sheet wrapped in aluminum foil. On the focaccia bread, lay the mozarella slices first and then top with prosciutto. Drizzle some olive oil. Lay the arugula and then some more prosciutto again.
2. Bake in oven for 15 minutes, enough to melt the mozarella and toast the bread.