photo by minishorts

If you have read this blog at all, you've noticed a few areas where I take some liberties:

• Street food can have many definitions and variations.  It's good enough for me if I think something should be a street food.


• I am heavily influenced by ingredients.  It would be pretty easy to throw up a recipe for tacos, but if there is something in season its usually a good time to talk about it.

This is one of those times.  It’s the time of year that if you are lucky enough to have a friend that hunts, or time to get out there yourself, you are getting ducks.  I was recently lucky enough to get the golden cooler filled with fresh teal duck breasts, and this recipe is the first thing I thought of. 

Since you can pretty much get any noodle dish in Bangkok, I feel like I can take some liberties with noodles.  This a great way to cook duck breast and its even better on noodles.

Duck can get pretty gamey, so it’s a great idea to brine it first.  This recipe takes some time to brine and marinate the meat, so I recommend you do the marinating overnight if you want to serve this for lunch. 

It would not be accurate to call this asian, but you don't see many noodle bowls on ranches in Texas.  The noodles vary in time and texture, so you are on your own for cooking soba the way you like.   In the next couple weeks I'll do duck tacos while ducks are still in season. 

Soba noodles with wild duck

2 lbs duck breast

Soba noodles, cooked to your liking

Brine:

1 cup water

1 cup orange juice

1/2 cup salt

10 black peppercorns

1 clove garlic, smashed

Marinade:

1/4 cup brandy

1 cup red wine

2 onions, minced

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/4 tsp allspice

1 bay leaf

The rest:

3 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced

3/4 cup chicken stock

1. Rinse the duck and pat dry.


2. Mix the brine in a bowl until the salt is dissolved.


3. Put the duck into a glass bowl and cover with the brine.  Cover and refrigerate.


4. Brine the duck for 2 hours.


5. Rinse the duck, clean the bowl and return the duck to the glass bowl.  Cover with the marinade.


6. Marinate overnight or for 5-6 hours.  Stir when you can.


7. Strain the marinade into a bowl.  Reserve both the solids and liquids.  Remove the bay leaf and discard.


8. Heat the oil and butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Brown the duck for 10 minutes.


9. Add about half the reserved onions from the marinade.  Cook for another 7-10 minutes.


10. Add the garlic, mushrooms, stock and 1/2 cup of the marinade liquid.  Bring to a slow boil.


11. Reduce the  heat to a slow simmer, cover, and cook for 1.5 hours.


12. Spoon over the soba noodles.

photo by wallyg

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival happens each year in the spring.   The event is at the Fairgrounds Race Track, near a large city park.  It's multiple days of excellent music and food.  I'm sure some big names have played Jazzfest, but my visits have focused on gospel and food.

The Jazz & Heritage Festival has roots in Southern gospel music, and it shows with the quality of bands that play each year.  Maybe the acoustics aren't the same as a small church, but the music makes up for it.

The other highlight is the food.  Its one of the best ways to try different cajun and creole dishes, some that aren't very common outside the fairgrounds.  The list is long, and I hope to eventually cover most, if not all of them here:

• Crawfish bread


• Crawfish balls


• Natchitoches meat pie


• Crawfish pie


• Muffuletta

I have never found a crawfish bread that comes even close to what you can find at Jazz Fest…

Prejean's Restaurant serves an excellent gumbo at the Jazz & Heritage Festival.  This is not their gumbo, but it’s a good one.  Its simple and it never fails.  The only trick to this recipe is that you'll need a whole smoked chicken - easy where I live, perhaps not everywhere.  There are ways to smoke a chicken yourself, but when I realized how fantastic the local version was, I quit doing it myself.

I serve large bowls of gumbo with a lump of packed rice dropped on top.  The heat of this gumbo is heavily dependent on the sausage, so pay attention to what you decide to use.

Smoked Chicken Gumbo

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

2 cups white onions, minced

1 cup green bell peppers, minced

1 cup celery, chopped

10 cups chicken stock

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp thyme

2 bay leaves

1 pound andouille sausage

1 whole smoked chicken

To make the gumbo:

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Don't let it smoked.  Add the flour a little at a time.


2. Let the flour cook, stirring almost constantly, until it is a dark roux, the color of good coffee.


3. Add half the onions, peppers and celery and cook about 5 minutes.  Add the seasonings and cook another 5 minutes.


4. Add 8 cups of stock to the roux, bring to a boil and cook 30 minutes.


5. Add the rest of the vegetables, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, sausage and remaining stock.  Simmer another 30 minutes.


6. Remove the sausage from the gumbo and slice into 1/4 in slices.  Return to the gumbo and cook for another 30 minutes.


7. While the gumbo is finishing, remove all the meat from the chicken and dice.  Set aside.


8. Add the chicken and let the gumbo cool for 10 minutes.  Spoon into bowls with rice.

photo by erewhon

Anyone travelling to New Orleans  will eventually make their way to Café Du Monde.  The New Orleans landmark either lives in the shadow of the farmer's market or provides its anchor.  Since its open 24 hours a day, vistor's memories of Café Du Monde will differ.  Some recall pleasant breakfasts drinking strong café au lait with chicory and eating warm beignets while the French Quarter starts the day.  Some recall a late night dessert to bring a night of drinking to an end.

Folks from New Orleans will most likely tell you their preference for a competitor - the Morning Call Coffee Stand.  According to their site, Morning Call has been making their version of Beignet's since 1870.  Some years back they left their French Quarter digs and moved to Metaire (Fat City).  Since you can buy beignet mix in some grocery stores, I thought it wiser to take a shot at Morning Call.  Especially since, frankly, they're better.

There are plenty of recipes for Café Du Monde beignets.  They all share a common flaw - they are way too large.  Unless you are planning to make doughnuts for the whole of the 9th Ward, you really want a recipe that makes a half dozen beignets, not 5-6 dozen.  This recipe takes care of that problem in two ways - frozen dough and a bread backup.  The dough is made ahead of time and frozen in whatever portions you like.  If you split the dough in two, you will end up with enough dough (after you've made your beignets) to make a loaf of sweet bread or yeast rolls.  This recipe assumes you have divided the dough recipe into two portions, but you can just as easily do many smaller batches and skip the bread altogether.

Beignets

Bread Dough:

2/3 cup lukewarm water

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1 1/2 cup water or milk

1/2 cup canola oil

2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup sugar

5-6 cups flour

Beignets:

Frozen bread dough

Powdered sugar

To make the dough:

1. Dissolve yeast in a yeast a large mixing bowl with the warm water.  Let stand for 15 minutes.


2. Add the water/milk, oil, salt and sugar to the yeast and blend well.


3. Add the flour a cup at a time, blending until the dough starts to form.


4. Split the dough into two portions and freeze them both.

To make the beignets:

1. The night before you plan to have beignets, take the frozen dough out.    Wait until the end of the night.  Spread flour on a plate and put the dough on the plate.  Dust the top of the dough with flour and cover with a glass cover.  The dough is going to expand overnight.


2. In the morning, spread plenty of flour out on a board.  Be generous with the flour.


3. Roll the dough out to be about 1/8 - 1/4" thick.  Cut into 2 1/2" squares.


4. Heat 2-3" of cooking oil in a small pan to 375 degrees.


5. Cook each square, 2-3 at a time, until golden brown.  Usually just a minute or so per side.


6. Give each beignet a heavy dusting of powdered sugar.

To make the bread:

1. Grease your hands well.  Take the remaining dough and form it into a loaf or rolls.  Cover the loaf and let it rise an additional 45 minutes.


2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


3. Using a greased pan, parchment paper or grease muffin tins, bake the bread for 30 minutes.


4. Remove from the oven and let the oven cool to 250 degrees.  Coat the bread with olive oil, cooking oil or butter to finish.  Bake another 30 minutes at 250 degrees.

If I owned a shrimp shack, this would definitely be top of the menu.  This is a street food inspired snack that I make as a starter when I know I have a shrimp eater on their way over.  Or if the right kind of shrimp goes on sale.  It’s a simple and tasty way to serve shrimp.  Keep some bread handy and nearby.  You can also jack up the spice in this recipe with hot sauce.

BBQ Shrimp Boats

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, rinsed and deveined.

1/2 tsp red pepper (like cayenne)

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp oregano

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp Worcester sauce

1/2 cup shrimp stock (or chicken if you don't have shrimp handy)

1/4 cup beer

Baguette or bolillo  bread, cut into small cross sections

Directions

1. Slowly melt the butter in a cast iron pan.


2. Add all the seasonings as the butter melts.


3. Turn up the heat to high, add the garlic, Worcester sauce and shrimp.  Cook for 2 minutes.


4. Add the stock, cook for 2 more minutes.


5. Add the beer, cook for 1 more minute.


6. Put the bread in bowls.  Serve the shrimp over the bread.  Make sure to cover the shrimp and bread in sauce.

photo by cfarivar

"Well if I owned the taco truck…"

Fajitas must have a common history with brisket - a not so fantastic cut of meat is prepared in a way that makes it edible, and when done well, coveted.  Trouble is, when you live in a sea of tacos, fajitas can get a little overworked.  Everyone sells them.  Within a 1/2 mile radius of my house I can get tacos from at least 20 different sources: from trailers to restaurants to Taco Bell.

They're so common that I think they tend to be reserved for large parties.  Fajitas really are a great way to feed a bunch of hungry folks and far better than burgers.  Large groups means leftovers.  In addition to using up the leftovers, its nice to have a fajita taco that doesn't feel like bologna and white bread - this is it.

This is another take on fajitas - one that stands on its own.  There's no reason you can't stick with the same sides, but these work pretty well as just tacos and no trimming.  These would make a great truck taco, but I can't say I have ever seen one.

Fajitas de Arbol

2 Tbsp oil

1 red onion

4 chilies de Arbol

1/2 cup peanuts

6 roasted green new mexican chili pepper, cut into strips.

1/2 tsp cumin

full steak of fajitas, completely prepared and cooked

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet


2. Cook the onion, peanuts, chilies de Arbol and cumin until the onion is translucent.


3. Add the chilis and cook for 1 minute.


4. Add the fajitas and cook until heated through.


5. Salt and pepper to taste.


6. Serve in soft corn tortillas, and only the serious keep the chilis.