June 25 – July 1, 2023

 

Sunday:                Grilled Strip Steaks / Watermelon Salad, Blueberry Crostata

Monday:               Corn Chowder with Miso and Scallions

Tuesday:               Rigatoni Mezze with Trader Joe’s Marinara / Parmesan Crostini

Wednesday:          Fish Tacos al Pastor (NYT – Sunday)

Thursday:             Rotary Club Dinner

Friday:                       Nathan’s Jumbo Hot Dogs with barbecued Beans and Coleslaw

Saturday:                  Margherita Pizza

 About the title of this post – Deep State.  Rest assured that  whatwecookedlastweek will never descend to the level of partisan politics – a level that would require breathing apparatus to avoid the noxious fumes emitted whenever your average politician opens his or her mouth.  The “Deep State” referred to above is the deep state of taste achieved by the wonderful Mexican sauce/cooking liquid/marinade known as ‘adobo.’

Admission of interest:  I come to this subject with skin in the game because SWMBO is a frequent flier with fish tacos.  If they are on the menu, she will likely order them.  So last week was a real feather in my cap – fish tacos cooked at home that she liked.  I’ve been resting on my laurels ever since and, to be honest, the laurels look pretty withered and wrinkled.

Now the Corn Chowder last week was to die for, but the fish tacos were even better and the method for flavoring those tacos – making your own adobo sauce – is a trick worth learning.  I say this as someone who used to love those El Paso taco kits that allowed you to take an ordinary pound of ground beef and turn it into something special that was neither a hamburger nor chili.

It turns out that Mexican cooks don’t use El Paso taco kits.  Who knew?  Mexican cooks are willing to do the hard work required to turn dried chilis into one of the great tastes on either side of the Rio Grande and you should emulate them, except for their attitude toward American national soccer teams.  [On the other hand, a contingent of fans from Mexico City makes it to every Steelers home game . . .”andale Ben, andale].

The recipe below takes a bit of work, and either some special care to protect your hands from the chilis, or the iron will to never touch your eyes, lips or nose after stemming and seeding them.  But the result is spectacular – an adobo sauce that goes equally well with beef, pork, chicken or fish.

Be warned that this sauce is addictive and you may find yourself spending many hours each week making it.  So, if you’re a mother or father with infants or young children, an acting CEO, a busy young M.D. who is often on-call, or a soldier fighting at the front in a hot war, consider yourself disqualified from making this sauce until your station in life or your circumstances change.  Of course, given the importance of what you are doing, you deserve to have the rest of us make this for you.  Call me – my rates are reasonable, except for the soldiers at the front – combat delivery involves significant added charges.

P.S. Kicked off this week with a great dinner on Sunday at Dennis and Annie’s  – tell you about it next week.

Fish Tacos al Pastor

(adapted from NYT, 6/25/23 – “Eat” – Eric Kim)

 Timing:                                                     2 hours

Ingredients:                                            Serves 8

Note:  Since there were only 3 of us, we used only half of the fish called for but used all of the ingredients in the adobo, which we used in several meals.

8-10 whitefish fillets (branzino, snapper or sea bass) – we used 4 branzino fillets (frozen, from Trader Joe’s, absolutely pristine when thawed)

1 pineapple (3-4 pounds, trimmed), – we used about 2 pounds of already trimmed pineapple.  You’ll use some of this for the pico de gallo (see below)

4 plum tomatoes

1 small white onion, cut into large chunks

4 garlic cloves (we used one large clove)

5 dried guajillo chilies (1 ounce)

5 dried ancho or pasilla chilies (3 ounces)

grapeseed or other neutral oil

2 cinnamon sticks

5 whole cloves

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon black peppercorns (we eked out the few black peppercorns we had with Sichuan peppercorns)

For the pineapple pico de gallo:

1 cup finely diced red onion

½ cup finely chopped cilantro

½ cup extra virgin olive oil (we used maybe 3/8 cup)

1 serrano pepper finely chopped (we used a Fresno pepper)

kosher salt

For serving:

Whole cilantro leaves and thinly sliced serrano pepper for garnish

About 40 corn tortillas warmed (we used 8 medium-sized tortillas)

Lime wedges

Prep:

Season the fish on all sides with salt and refrigerate until ready to cook.

Make the pineapple adobo:

Preheat an outdoor grill to high, or a grill pan on the stove to medium-high.

Cut 2/3 of the pineapple into large chunks

Cut 1/3 of the pineapple into ¼ thick slabs or pieces

Toast the cinnamon sticks, cloves, cumin seeds and peppercorns in a skillet over medium, shaking and moving the pan until fragrant – a minute or two.

Place the pineapple (in two separate piles), the tomatoes, the garlic and chilies on a sheet pan.

Grease the grill or grill pan with the oil.  (You’ll need a grill basket for the smaller items, if you’re using an outdoor grill.)  Grill the pineapple, tomatoes, onion and garlic, turning occasionally, until charred in spots and tender.  The garlic will take 5 minutes, the pineapple slabs and onion up to 10 minutes (the pineapple itself may be finished in 5 or so), the pineapple chunks about 12 minutes and the tomatoes, 20 minutes.

Now toast the chilies, turning once, until fragrant – maybe 20 seconds.

At this point you need to rehydrate the chilies.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil.

Using gloves (I used plastic baggies to protect my hands), stem and seed the chilies – this will take a while, but the more chili flesh you preserve, the deeper the adobo taste will become.

Put the chilies into the boiling water and cook until softened -5 minutes – then transfer to a plate, reserving the cooking water.

To a blender, add the grilled vegetables and the pineapple chunks – save the slabs for the pico de gallo – the toasted spices, the rehydrated chiles, 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of coarse kosher salt to a blender, along with a few splashes of the chili cooking water and blend until very smooth.

[At this point, the recipe calls for the pureed adobo to be passed through a fine-meshed sieve and then added to ½ cup of very hot grapeseed oil heated in a Dutch oven until just smoking and then for you to stir constantly for 2 minutes until emulsified.  We skipped the straining and cooking in oil – we think it gives a deeper, cleaner taste to the adobo]

Make the Pineapple Pico de Gallo:

Finely dice the grilled pineapple slabs and add to a bowl with the red onion, the cilantro, the olive oil and the serrano pepper.  Season to taste with salt and stir to combine.

Cook the Fish:

You will need that grill or grill pan to be high or medium-high again, and you’ll need to grease the grates of the grill or the ridges of the pan.  Generously slather the adobo over both sides of the fish, then grill, skin side down until the skin is slightly charred and releases from the grates easily (6 minutes or less on the first side and 30 seconds to a minute once you’ve turned it over).

Warm the tortillas per the instructions on the packet.

Serve:

Top each fillet with some of the pineapple pico de gallo and garnish with cilantro leaves and serrano pepper slices.  Let diners use serving spoons to load their tortillas with pieces of the fish and give them lime wedges to squeeze over the tortillas.  We also served extra adobo on the side.