What's cooking?

In a place where you have a lot of good options, los Gordos might not stand out but to people deprived of decent, authentic Mexican food it was a godsend.

Gene and I went to Los Gordos today. I got a carnitas taco. Very good, meat, was well seasoned, and had some crispness to it. Also, one chili relleno which was bad. Pepper inside was not fresh, dough left much to be desired and the cheese inside was tasteless. Gene got a burrito but he said the place we usually go, Burrito Bandito, had much better ones. This is not far from us and on a busy street where the airport is located. Lots of construction guys go there. You go through a line and they custom make your burrito as you point out what you want. The choice is large. I asked for some tamales to take home and they did not have any. She said they only make them now and then, so you lucked out. Gene did not care for the environment in Los Gordos. Redding has a lot of homeless folks because we take such good care of them here. Many are coming off of I-5 and passing through, but manage to cause problems along the way. We saw several come in to pick up food, dirty and with filthy back packs. I think he got a little nervous. Having worked with the police dept, I saw many everyday in and out of the dept, so I was not as bothered as he.

Anyway, we also like our chips served hot and very fresh pico de gallo. Yes, I know tomatoes are not in season but there are pretty good winter tomatoes these days that are at least red! There was a green salsa that was very flavorful with a good cilantro flavor that shined. I really liked that. Of course Gene is very spoiled and he loves my cooking. I do make a fair amount of Mexican food and tex-mex and he always says my cooking is the best. What can I say to that! However,even the cook wants to go out sometimes! I am happy that you were pleased with it and I know that when traveling, your eating schedule gets thrown off (at least ours does) and when we finally do stop to eat, it all seems to taste darn good.
How did Tammy Faye do on the trip?

After my Thursday morning meeting I usually walk over to the little Korean produce store in the same shopping center. They had endive and blood oranges -- so I bought those thinking of a recipe that I love

"Cod with Blood Orange Sauce and Creamy Grits" by Daniel Boulud, from his "Café Boulud Cookbook."

The grits (NOT instant) are cooked for a long time with milk and rosemary sprigs. The blood oranges are zested, juiced, and cooked with butter, sugar, chopped endive, and rosemary until the endive is very tender and you get a concentrated dark red bitter-sweet sauce. Then the cod filets are sauteed in butter until white flakey and delicious.

Serve by putting a mound of the grits in a rim soup, perching a cod filet on top, and surrounding with the orange/endive sauce.

Yum!

[Jenise]

After my Thursday morning meeting I usually walk over to the little Korean produce store in the same shopping center. They had endive and blood oranges -- so I bought those thinking of a recipe that I love

"Cod with Blood Orange Sauce and Creamy Grits" by Daniel Boulud, from his "Café Boulud Cookbook."

The grits (NOT instant) are cooked for a long time with milk and rosemary sprigs. The blood oranges are zested, juiced, and cooked with butter, sugar, chopped endive, and rosemary until the endive is very tender and you get a concentrated dark red bitter-sweet sauce. Then the cod filets are sauteed in butter until white flakey and delicious.

Serve by putting a mound of the grits in a rim soup, perching a cod filet on top, and surrounding with the orange/endive sauce.

Yum!

MUST. TRY. THIS.

I can scan and PM the recipe. The bitter-sweet flavor of the sauce (sweet from caramelized sugar and blood orange juice and bitter from endive and rosemary) is kind of an amazing counterpoint to the savory butter-fried cod. And the rosemary scented long cooked creamy grits just makes it all come together perfectly. Thanks Daniel Boulud! But we can't really have it more than about once a year, since it involves about a stick of butter, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and a pound of fish, and it's impossible not to have seconds so we more or less eat the entire recipe...

[Jenise]

I am happy that you were pleased with it and I know that when traveling, your eating schedule gets thrown off (at least ours does) and when we finally do stop to eat, it all seems to taste darn good. How did Tammy Faye do on the trip?

Hunger did not make me overly generous. Let me review the words I used. The burrito was very good, but on the 100 point Parker scale where anything under 70 points would have been inedible, that's only one step above merely 'good'. The tacos were excellent and better than the burrito, which is a higher rating, and excellent means about 90 points. The tamales were 'outstanding', and that starts around 95. Not the best tamales I've EVER had, but the best chicken yes--chicken tamales have a tendency to be dry and seriously underseasoned. These were neither, and the masa pretty thin so the filling-crust ratio was just right. More often than not, there's too much masa. Overall it wasn't amazing, but we enjoyed it because it was genuinely good food and nothing we had was disappointing, like your relleno which sounds pretty bad. Too we skipped chips and salsa, so had no opinion on those but the ones in pic in that review looked pretty underwelming, I must say. Anyway, sorry you didn't enjoy your meal but I didn't mean to mislead you.

You did not mislead me at all...cause, like I said we had already eaten there, only it was the one on our side of town. I appreciate your telling me about them, it is always nice to hear that others appreciated one of our restaurants .Frankly Jenise, Gene and I do not go out to eat much Sometime when you come through and have time, let us know and we can take you to Anselmos.....a winery and working cattle ranch that we are very fond of.

Sweet and Sour Eggplant Soba; Mmmmm good!

Beef with Snow Peas tonight. Came from circa 1969 "The Quick and Easy Electric Skillet Cookbook" by Ceil Dyer, but we 'woked' it. A little bland by today's standards but since we are down with "The Bug" it was just the comfort food we needed.

Tonight's dinner. Chicken and snow pea stir-fry with Tuscan kale and diced fresh tomato. Side was steamed brown rice with butter and Mignonette (a Penzey's blend of Tellicherry black pepper, white pepper and coriander). Washed it down with 2004 Ramon Bilbao Gran Reserva Rioja (because it was open).

I had fun making this using a range of spices. I seasoned the tomatoes with medium chili powder and garlic, and a dash of Balsamic vinegar, letting that marinate while preparing the rest. The chicken was dusted with ginger, pepper and half-sharp paprika, then sauteed in olive oil and diced garlic. I set that aside to stir fry the snow peas in chili oil, then added back the chicken, stirred in the tomatoes, kale and some chicken broth. The meal did not suck, with the fruit and spice of the wine nicely integrating with the food.

Chicken Stir-fry.jpg

[Robin Garr]

In lieu of colcannon for St. Patrick's, a much more interesting take on cabbage and potatoes with Bengali/Indian flavors: Bandhakopir Torkaari, cabbage with potatoes and peas, tomatoes, browned onions and ginger and fiery Indian spice.

5 Dal soup with Indian spices(lots of ginger and garlic), naan with chat masala spice and chai.

Grilled New York steaks marinated in a killer marinade, with a side of sweet onions, myriad mushrooms and roasted garlic cooked to a yummyness with a little tarragon and balsamic. A big green salad with romaine, red leaf lettuce and lots of fresh herbs, (they are so good right now right out of the garden) and some sort of rice dish.

A very toned down version of Bahn Mi..but still good.

A very toned down version of Bahn Mi..but still good.

Any version of banh mi that is reasonably close to the Vietnamese original is good by me!

Have you been to any of the banh mi places in Little Saigon in Sacto?

Mike,
I assume Little Saigon means Stockton Blvd? Any banh mi recs- my wife will be out next week, we found a good pho place, but the one place we tried for banh mi wasn't up to Westminster levels.

A very toned down version of Bahn Mi..but still good.

Any version of banh mi that is reasonably close to the Vietnamese original is good by me!

Have you been to any of the banh mi places in Little Saigon in Sacto?

Years ago, when Reno didnt have much in terms of an Asian grocery, we used to stop by Little Saigon and stock up on supplies. Havent had a bahn mi at any of the numerous places that dot that neighborhood. Any that you might recommend? We still visit/pass through Sacto quite a bit. Mike, I am assuming that you are on the up and up.

Years ago, when Reno didnt have much in terms of an Asian grocery, we used to stop by Little Saigon and stock up on supplies. Havent had a bahn mi at any of the numerous places that dot that neighborhood. Any that you might recommend? We still visit/pass through Sacto quite a bit. Mike, I am assuming that you are on the up and up.

I like Duc Huong. It's on the east side of Stockton Blvd just a bit north of Florin, in a strip mall with Black Pearl (an excellent Chinese restaurant). It's pretty much a takeout place, although they have a couple of tables inside. Good banh mi and a nice selection of various other Vietnamese items, most of which I am not familiar with. Another place with a great reputation is Huong Lan, on 65th just a little west of Stockton, in a strip mall with SF Market. The only time I was there, though, the place was mobbed and I couldn't even figure out how to get to the counter to order, so I gave up. I'll get back there sooner or later, though.

I like Duc Huong. It's on the east side of Stockton Blvd just a bit north of Florin, in a strip mall with Black Pearl (an excellent Chinese restaurant). It's pretty much a takeout place, although they have a couple of tables inside. Good banh mi and a nice selection of various other Vietnamese items, most of which I am not familiar with. Another place with a great reputation is Huong Lan, on 65th just a little west of Stockton, in a strip mall with SF Market. The only time I was there, though, the place was mobbed and I couldn't even figure out how to get to the counter to order, so I gave up. I'll get back there sooner or later, though.

Thanks. Spring break, we might pass through Sacto. That might be a time we will try these place!

[Robin Garr]

Spaghetti with roasted fennel and onions in a Parmigiano-Reggiano béchamel.

I nailed a chorizo and mushroom quiche tonight. Texture just what I wanted.

Lamb chops, whole wheat thin spaghetti with a light home made tomato sauce, kalamata olives, fresh garlic and cherry tomatos added at the last minute and fresh basil. A salad of Treviso, Belgian Endive, cucumber, marinated red onion, and walnut vinaigrette.

[Jenise]

Karen, we're on the same page today, sort of. For lunch Bob and I had a tomato-basil-bufala mozz salad. I had already taken a rack of lamb out of the freezer. The Italian lunch made us think Italian for dinner, so the rack is now marinating in rosemary/garlic/olive oil and will be served grilled and sliced over Marcella Hazan's mashed potatoes with zucchini, after a salad of spinach wilted with a saute of jerusalem artichokes, mushrooms, garlic, olive oil and vinegar.

As reported in the Ottolenghi thread, I made sweet potato cakes from the cookbook Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi. These involved steaming chunks of sweet potatoes until soft and then mashing them with flour, sugar, soy sauce, red pepper, and green onions. They were fried up in butter and served with a sauce of Greek yogurt, sour cream, lemon juice, and cilantro. They came out beautifully and were very tasty. The sauce was a nice sour counterpoint to the sweetness of the cakes.

We had them with Basque chorizo sausages from a local sausage maker.

[Robin Garr]

Szechwan shredded beef with carrots and celery (with Gardein "beefless tips").
Recipe: http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvis ... 1023.phtml