photo by _-ellie-_

I have been either skiing or snowboarding nearly my whole life. Quite a feat for someone that lives, and has lived, in Texas nearly the entire time.  I once got in 35 boarding days in a year, and yes, I had a job.  When you plot your path to snow in Texas, the shortest trip is always New Mexico (if you're driving).  I've skied or boarded nearly every resort in New Mexico.  While the lodges in New Mexico don't serve good chili, they serve a hot, tasty frito pie.  There are plenty of good reasons to eat frito pie, but taking a break from snowboarding is perhaps the best.

If you want to take your chili and drop it in the bag, I absolutely recommending using the real deal - fritos.  Since I don't have to do that, I use a regular tortilla chip, preferably not one of those super thin restaurant grade chips.  To make this recipe really work you need the thick tortilla chips that have a little weight to them.  Doctor this up as much as you want - its hard to go wrong. 

Frito Pie

Tortillachips

Shiner Bock Chili

Red onions, diced

Cheese

Directions

1. Cover a small bowl with cracked tortilla chips.


2. Cover the chips with the chili.


3. Cover the chili with onions and cheese (you can also add avocados and jalapenos)


4. Serve and eat immediately.

The first chili cook-off I entered happened pretty much the way it does for everyone - a bunch of friends wanted to spend an afternoon drinking beer and cooking chili.  We did everything right - compared recipes, used diced (not ground) beef and no pre-mixed chili powders.  We also fulfilled our one true objective - we spent the afternoon drinking beer and meeting people.  It was a good afternoon.  When it came time for a visit from the judges, the one we knew stopped by first to give us a pre-taste.  Cheating, sure, but we were never really in the running.  He took one bite of our chili and said "there's cinnamon in this.  You can't put cinnamon in chili."  1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon in a full batch of chili and you'd think we put beans it.

Chili is not really much of a street food, but is a key ingredient.  I needed to get this recipe out there to build off it in the next couple posts.  This is a great recipe, but you won't win any cook-offs with it.

Shiner Bock Chili

1 small onion, very finely diced

2 cloves garlic, very finely diced

1 Tbsp oil

2 pounds of cubed chuck tender beef (or chili grind)

1 14-1/2 oz. Can – Beef Broth, or 16-18 oz of natural beef broth

A good beer (this is where the chili got its name)

2 14oz cans fire roasted tomatoes

1 cube – Beef Bouillon

1 cube – Chicken Bouillon

3 peppers, your choice (Jalapeno Pepper & Serrano work best)

Chili Mix #1

3 Tbls. -Chili powder (I use equal parts Texas Red, New Mexican Light, Indian Hot chili)

1 Tbls. - Paprika

1/2 tsp. - White Pepper

1 packet - Sazon Goya

Chili Mix #2

3 Tbls. -Chili powder (I use equal parts Texas Red, New Mexican Light, Indian Hot chili)

½ tsp. – Mexican Oregano

½ tsp. – Black Pepper 

1 packet – Sazon Goya

1 tsp. - cumin

¼ tsp. - brown sugar

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a chili pot and cook the onion and garlic until translucent


2. Add the meat and brown with the onion.


3. Add the stock, 1/2 the beer, tomatoes, bouillon and peppers, and bring to a boil


4. Add Chili Mix #1, cut back heat and simmer for an hour


5. Add Chili Mix #2, cook for another 30 minutes.


6. Remove peppers


7. Add the rest of the beer and 1 tsp of cumin.  Simmer another 15 minutes.


8. Taste and add salt as needed. 

Street food holds a special place in the lives of Thai diners.  Street food is not an oddity housed in an Airstream trailer.  Street food is a way of life - in some cities most residents do their primary dining from street vendors.  Trying to capture street food in a place like Thailand is like fishing with a butterfly net.

Spicy fish cakes are a fairly common staple.  They are served with lime wedges and occasionally small salads.  Tod Man Pla is typically deep fried until lightly crispy.  You'll sometimes see them as fish balls, but they are more common as a patty.

This recipe is made to be doubled, if you have the fish.  This is the right size for me, but very easy to multiply for a party.

The real trick here is the red curry paste.  If you decide to pull it out of a jar, its going to take no time at all to make these, but you'll lose some taste and color in the Tod Man.  There are brands with more local flavor than what you'll find at Whole Foods, but its easy enough to make your own paste.

When you make the paste, you can decide how much you want to leave the vegetables  whole.  I use a hand processor so that I get a choppy, inconsistent paste.

Spicy Fish Cakes (Tod Man Pla)

Patty

1 lb fish (I pick what I can get - salmon works well but so does Tilapia)

1/4 cup Thai Red Curry Paste or fresh curry paste (see below)

1 tsp salt

1 egg

3/4 cup diced green beans

1 basil leave, diced

Directions

1. Use a food processor to blend the fish, curry paste, salt and egg.


2. Fold in the green beans and basil.


3. Form into patties and fry in a vegetable oil over medium.  It takes about 3 minutes per side

Thai Red Curry Paste

3 Shallots or heirloom red onions

1 in ginger or galangal

4 in lemongrass

1 Tbsp cilantro, diced

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp kaffir limes leaves

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp fish sauce

2 fresh red chilis

Blend in food processor to the consistency you like.

Sliders are a great invention.  I'm sure White Castle has a higher unit margin than other burger shops - less meat, more bread, more sliders.  I have but one rub with sliders, and it’s a big one - I don't like burgers.

I realize that burgers and hot dogs are all American street food. For many reasons, none having to do with White Castle, I have not had a burger since I was a kid.  But I love sliders,so accommodations must be made.

Sliders aren't just great because they come in cool little boxes. A local spot serves Kobe beef sliders on a fancy plate.  I like them because they are snack sized and you can do all kinds of modifications to them.

Ever since people started blackening things like mad I have been making sandwiches out of blackened fish.  I think it’s a much better delivery mechanism than covering blackened fish in heavy sauces with crab or crawfish.  I'll take that too, if you're buying.

I realize most native cajuns would rather use peanut oil, but I don't like to burn my oils and this recipe cooks pretty hot.  I use a decent high temp oil.

For the fixins, I like to use a combination of red and white cabbage, but spicy slaw works well too.

Blackened Snapper Sliders

2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp mexican oregano

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp onion pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Safflower oil

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 lb red snapper or redfish

Slider buns

Directions

1. Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in a cast iron skillet.  Sauté the garlic until it starts to brown, then remove the garlic.


2. Mix all the seasonings together well, and coat the fish on one side.


3. Make sure the skillet is hot, but not smoking.


4. Put the fish in the skillet seasoning side down, then coat the next side with seasoning


5. Let the fish cook, depending on thickness, for 3 minutes.  Turn once and cook for another 3 minutes.  If the fish is not done, leave on that side until it is.


6. Make the sliders with small pieces of fish.  Top with cabbage or spicy slaw.