Tamales & Reviews

 Short post this week.  Yesterday was my birthday and life's been a little hectic, so I haven't cooked much lately.

Cubano Tamales en Cazuela
If you love the taste of tamales, like I do, but hate the labor intensive process of making and wrapping and tying them, you're gonna love this recipe.  In the past I've made "tamales in a pot" by laying down a layer of masa dough on foil, then laying down filling in the center; and sliding this mass into a loaf pan, folding the top bits over, and baking.

This new recipe I discovered the other day looks even easier, and just as tasty.  It's sort of "stuffed polenta Cuban style", and looks like an award winner for the One Pot Meal challenge!

1 pound Pork Sirloin, minced (for Sally I will use chopped, cooked chicken)
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 roasted Red Bell Pepper, chopped fine
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil for frying
1/3 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup red wine
2 cups fresh or thawed frozen yellow corn 
 1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups masa harina
3 cups chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon Chile powder
2 limes, juiced 
 salt and pepper to taste

Broil or grill the pepper until it starts to blacken; then dice it, black bits and all.   

Toss the pork, garlic and onion together in a bowl and stir to combine with the lime juice.  Fry the mixture a minute or two before adding the bell pepper and red wine.  Simmer until the onion is translucent.  Reserve with liquid.

Chop or grind the corn in a food processor so that you have a coarse mix, not just whole kernals.  Stir to combine with the masa, chile powder and chicken broth in a pot.  Add the meat mixture and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes until the mixture thickens significantly, but does not burn.  As one person said, "when it meets the Standing Spoon Test, you're ready to eat.

Ladle onto a plate or bowl, and garnish with pico de gallo or sofrito.

 Standing Spoon Test

My first way of making Tamal en Cazuela.  Here the tamal has been removed from the loaf pan and unwrapped, causing the crust to open up.



Reviews
As I said, I didn't cook anything special, or anything you hadn't seen before, over the weekend.  I did make salmon poached over OJ-infused courtbouillion one night; and Cajun Chicken & Vegetables another.   But I thought I'd tell you about two places we went to eat.

Norman Love Confections
Those of you around this area, and perhaps elsewhere will recognize the name.  Norman and his crew make some of the finest tasting, most beautiful chocolate creations on the planet.  Candies, chocolate sculptures that will take your breath away, and much more.   We can shop direct in several locations; the rest of you can mail-order from http://www.normanloveconfections.com/

Locally, they have also branched out into making superior gelato and similar frozen delights, as well as offering lunch crepes.   

We had to go out to their main location near the airport here, as Sally wanted to pick up some chocolates for her work-mate's birthday on Wednesday.  While we were there we had a pre-birthday lunch and gelato.  Sally got the Chicken Caesar crepe, and I opted for the Italian.  Both came with a nice bit of viniagrette pre-dressed greens.  Both crepes were very tasty, and you get the pleasure of watching the young lady behind the counter make the light airy 'pancake', and then fill it.  I found the Chicken Caesar to be the more filling of the two -- a better value for the money.  I liked the Italian Crepe, flavor-wise, but structurally it was just a couple slices of Boar's Head meats and cheeses wrapped in a pancake; where the Chicken Caesar was more substantial construction.  IMHO the Italian would be better filled with mini meatballs a splash of red gravy and some cheese.

I had the Coffee-Chocolate Chip gelato and the Raspberry.  Fabulous.  Sally had the Salted Caramel Chocolate and something else I don't recall.  Some of the best gelato anywhere!


Fancy's
For my birthday luncheon, Sally wanted us to try a new place in town -- Fancy's Southern Cafe.  Heck I like southern cooking, so off we went.

 

This is much more upscale than yo momma's Southern cooking.  

They have a nice menu, with some interestingly different appetizers like Deep Fried Cheese Grits, Boiled Peanuts, Deviled Eggs and Frog Legs as well as the obligatory Fried Okra and Fried Green Tomatoes.  Wanting dessert, we skipped the appetizers and went straight for the mains.  Sally had the Chicken Pot Pie,  I had Chicken and Waffles, and Sally's Mum had the Crabcakes.

BIG servings.  Mine was  three Belgian waffles and two breaded chicken cutlets, stacked Napoleon style and stuck with a steak knife to hold the stack together.  Their house "buttermilk maple syrup" sure was yummy.  I brought back leftovers and had them for breakfast this morning.

Mum had two or three nice sized crabcakes that were tasty, but she wasn't interested in the fried green tomato (which Sally and I split), or the undressed greens that came with (and no dressing offered).  She did like the Mac & Cheese side and the Spicy Coleslaw.

Sally's Chicken Pot Pie was "OK" she said, but the filling was very under-seasoned.  Their version is obviously made "restaurant style" in a large pot/pan and then ladled into a bowl before being topped with a square of puff pastry.  Nice presentation, though.  Her side of Sweet Potato Souffle was pretty tasty, but the green beans suffered from the traditional Southern technique of boiling all vegetables into limp and again under-seasoned submission.

For dessert we had a nice large serving of very tasty Key Lime Pie tastefully garnished with decorative dollops of whipped cream.